Three Is Company
by White-Jet
Summary: Unspoiled Sidestory to Life of an Agent Episode 12: Shinta sneaks into the clinic to visit J and set things straight. Meanwhile, Takuya's problem drags in more than one group. Will the combined effort of Ouen and EBA help lull him to a peaceful slumber?
1. Episode 1: Tokyo Divided

Author's Note: Yes, for those of you who got the Author Alert e-mail, I apologize for taking the story down, I forgot to a few things that I needed to point out (Then decided to be a bitch by not letting me stick my story back up). First off, _Three Is Company_ is an unspoiled sidestory taking place three to four years after _Life of an Agent_. Unspoiled means any plots that have not been revealed in _Life of an Agent_ will not be mentioned in this fanfic; this includes the "who saves the world" plot at the end of Elite Beat Agents. As with the Author Notes concerning the personality and appearance of the Ouendan, both Ouen and Noble, I apologize if the way I handle them is not to your liking. I would also like to state that I an not well versed in Japanese dialect and that most of the translations (That I've altered slightly to reduce SOME confusion) are from GameFAQs and the random romaji the Ouendans will be saying came from Animelabs.

Episode 1: Tokyo Divided

In a house/restaurant a few miles from Yuhi River, a pandemic riles up within the four walls of the family run business home.

"Uwa! It's almost time!" cries Tsuyoshi Handa, an average citizen of Japan in the midst of obtaining a job. He frantically digs through his pile of papers, throwing up one resume after another, "My resume! My company information! Where's my entry sheet!?"

He's immediately interrupted by the sound of his family laughing in the center of the room. Nervous, as his family has always had a rotten habit of bogging him down at the worst time, he turns around to check up on them. To his expected horror, he finds the last of his resumes and entry forms being used for randomly stupid needs. His father wrote scores on his entry sheet while his mother made a grocery list out of the back of one of his envelopes, and his devilish little brother had turned one of his resumes into a paper airplane.

"ACK! What've you done!?" he cries in anger and annoyance, "I need those for today's company test!"

The family stares at him in dumbfound silence as he holds up several letters of rejection from previous companies, "I've already failed 99 tests and have no other way of passing! Today's supposed to be my last try!"

"What!?" The father laughs, "I thought it was just a pile of junk!"

The rest of the family laughs and continue with their own business, leaving poor, helpless Tsuyoshi trembling in anger over their ignorance.

"You guys..." he growls, trembling in distraught, anger and overwhelming anxiety. He slowly turns back to his pile of rejection letters, sputtering in desperation, "O...O..."

As he continues to sputter, he grabs a hand full of the rejection letters and throws them into the air, screaming at the top of his lungs.

_**OUENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!**_

A split second after screaming his head off, the doors to the Handa house flies open as three men in black, gakuran outfits, burst into the room. Ryuta Ippongi, the lead Cheer Squad with spiky, reddish brown hair that was pulled back into a topknot, and was the only one of the two men wearing ribbons around his shoulders and a band bearing the emblem of their squad on his left arm, shouts "osu" to indicate his presence to the jittering job hunter. Unfortunately, Tsuyoshi was too busy panicking to acknowledge their arrival.

"This is bad!" he shudders, "I have to hurry up and write my resume!" he starts hallucinating, seeing more rejection letters rain down on him, "Waah!! More rejections!!"

The Cheer Squad tries again to get Tsuyoshi's attention by shouting "osu" again at the top of their lungs. The moment the sound reached his ears, an inner ambition burns within his soul, causing all his fear and anxiety to vanish in a split second. Fueled by this energy, he quickly goes to work scribbling out his resume while the Cheer Squad stay in the background, using their cheerleading performance through music to feed his desires.

_Tsumazuite, korondetara oitekarenda  
Doromizu no naka wo kyou mo yoromeki nagara susumu_

_Yogorechimatta boku no sekai uita hanashi nado nai  
Shimitsuita kodoku ronri, fue nakunatteiru_

Tsuyoshi suddenly stops, shifting his legs uncomfortably.

"I have to use the bathroom...but..." he glares at his little brother, who has been watching him since he started feverishly writing down his resume, "Don't do anything stupid!" The brother nods as he rushes off to the bathroom

_Tamesarete mademo koko ni iru koto wo kimeta noni  
Jumon no you ni "shikata nai" to tsubuyaiteita_

Tsuyoshi comes out of his room minutes later wearing his business attire and carrying a small, brown briefcase, "Alright! I'm going!"

"Nii-chan! Nii-chan!" the little brother calls out, running to Tsuyoshi. He hesitates for a moment before pulling up a large envelope, neatly preserved, "I attached your photos and put them in this envelope!" he finishes with a snide, but unintentionally childish snicker.

"Wow! Thanks! You saved me!" Tsuyoshi says in surprise, taking the envelope from his little brother. He looks at his watch as he leaves the house, his expression turning to shock at how late he was going to be.

"Yikes! I don't have time! I gotta hurry!" he yelps. The Cheer Squad appear from the ally near his house, shouting "osu" again and filling him with more undying ambition. Yelling in determination, he dashes off into town, hoping to catch the train before it left.

_Tsumiageta mono bukkowashite mi ni tsuketa mono topparatte  
Tomedo nai chi to ase de kawaita nou wo uruose  
Ano koro no bokura wa kitto zenryoku de shounen data_

_Sekai wo hiraku no wa dare da?_

The train station was light this time of day, making Tsuyoshi's trip a lot faster. He tries to go easy by walking down the line at a brisk pace, but then he panicked when he saw how much time he had left. Desperate, he rushes down the hallway until he spots a ticket booth near where his next train would arrive at. Panting with relief, he starts digging through his briefcase, his panicking increasing.

"Wallet...!" he mutters, "My wallet...! I forgot my wallet!"

A thought suddenly entered his mind, reflecting back to when he rushed out of his house. His mother had stopped him earlier, handing him a folded piece of paper. He pulls the note out and opens it, finding a stack of yen clipped to the side and a note written on top.

"If you're ever in trouble, use this – From mom," the note said.

"Thanks, mom!" Tsuyoshi sobs joyously as he takes the money out and uses it to pay for his ticket.

He arrives at the company half an hour later. Remembering the fiasco of his last 99 tests, Tsuyoshi began to panic once again.

"It's the interview; I have to calm down!" he jitters, "This is bad!!"

The doors to the company slide open as the Cheer Squad jump in, shouting "osu" again. Tsuyoshi's panic turns to burning ambition as he eagerly heads inside and sits down in front of a panel of business men, waiting for the interview to start.

_Asobu koto wasuretetara oitekarenda  
Kokontoko wa shigoto ONLY warae nakunatteiru_

Tsuyoshi froze at the first sight of the judges, seeming at a loss of what to do. The moment they began asking questions, however, his anxiety lightens up and he began explaining his reasons for employing in their company. The judges nodded with enthusiasm over his calm, talkative posture.

_Yodonda keshiki ni kotae wo mitsukedasu no wa mou yame da!  
Nigotta mizu mo atarashii hikari de sugu ni sukamiwatatteiku_

"What is your definition of a family," one of the judges asked. Tsuyoshi thinks back a bit on the answer. At first, his thoughts reflected on the annoying, rotten things his own family did in the past, first delaying his chances of getting into college for three years, and now almost bombing him out of a job. However, through both turmoils, they seem to understand just how ambiguous he is in getting what he wants and drop their absent-minded ways to help him achieve those goals.

"To me," Tsuyoshi said slowly, before bringing his fists to his shoulders and finishing with enthusiasm, "My family is a treasure that bares no substitute!"

The judges, enthralled by his words, clapped with enthusiasm and excitement for his response.

"Wonderful!" they all shout.

_Tsumiageta mono bukkowashite mi ni tsuketa mono topparatte  
Ikue ni kasanariau egaita yume he no houbutsusen  
Magire mo naku bokura zutto zenryoku de shounen nanda_

_Sekai wo hiraku no wa boku da_

The interview continues without a hitch. The judges continue to ask Tsuyoshi questions, to which he answers with enthusiasm and happiness. What fear he had of the previous rejections seems to melt away like ice under a warm sun.

_Shikai wa mou sumikitteru_

Several days later, a bike pulls up to the Handa house as a mailman knocks on the door. Tsuyoshi, still in his sky-blue pajamas, slides the door open only to be presented with a large envelope.

"Mr. Handa! Special delivery!" the mailman said. Tsuyoshi takes the envelope with jittering hands.

"This is...!" he mutters, pulling the envelope open and reading the contents inside. Shouting for joy, he scrambles into the living room, waving a small letter in his hand, "I did it everyone!"

His family looks towards him in curiosity as he laughs with excitement.

"It's all so sudden!" he says, "But I got a position in the elite service of New York!"

Overjoyed by his happiness, Tsuyoshi's family crowd around him and began tossing him into the air as though they were human trampolines, watching as he laughs with more enthusiasm.

* * *

Tokyo, Japan.

Six years after the meteor threatened to destroy the planet, and three years after an alien invasion nearly stripped them of their love for music, new hope was beginning to grow among the people who lived most of their lives with stress, worry and anxiety. All is not lost, however, as they have grown to accept the aide of a group of men and women who have dedicated their lives and talents in helping them reach their goals no matter what the cost.

The aloof party, fit, strong, and unnerved by anything. They are the driving force of everyone's fight to a better life, dream and prosperity. They are called the Ouen Cheer Squad. For many years, people have relied on them as a last ditch effort to save their careers, their goals, even their lives. They may be the bottom of the barrel in ideas, but they don't care as long as people understand that there is someone out there willing to help them overcome everything that stands in their way.

But in all outcomes the squad has faced in the past, not once have they been prepared for what is about to become the largest test of reliability in the history of world motivation.

* * *

Ryuta wanders through the banks of Yuhi River, his two companions, Atsushi Saito, with the black hair and eye patch, and Ittetsu Suzuki, with the blond Mohawk and short beard, following on either side of him. Today just seems like another long day with nothing to do but wait for the next person to call on them. That is, until the ground they stood on began to shake.

A strong spirit, rivaling that of their own squad, was sailing through the river and near blinding speeds. The three turn around to see a large houseboat zoom by them. On one side of the boat, a blue flag, bearing a symbol that looked like a shield with "EN" squeezed inside a large "O", two flags crossing over each other, and a leaf-like crown bent below the symbol, waves in the mighty wind.

As the boat began to pass by them, the squad could see several people standing on the main deck. Five of them, male, wore blue outfits with gold trimmings on the zipper and bottom corners of their jackets, and had the same emblems that was represented on their flag.

One of them, coursing with the same, bold spirit as his, caught Ryuta's attention. Standing near the edge of the deck is a man with long, blond hair, wearing a white bandana. To make the situation more curious, the man seems to have sensed that he was being watched, but paid no immediate heed. Ryuta frowns in uncertainty, wondering what their intentions could be for showing up and challenging the city who had relied on Ouen for many years.

* * *

In the Versailles girl's academy in Asahi Town, a young girl with long, brown pigtails arrives at the door. She yearned to be in the noble-family choir class, and thus, moved away from the city to be apart of it.

"I've finally arrived!" Yuria Satake, calls out, "The choir club of the noble-family Versailles girl's academy!"

She pushes the door open to the choir room and steps inside, "I wish to join the club..." her voice trails off as she finds that most of the room was bare except for one person, bearing short, dirty blonde hair, standing in front of the window outside, glancing at the beautifully colored sky.

"Sa..." the girl began, at first not turning around. She began to tremble as she continues to stutter, "Sa...sa...sa...sa..."

Finally, she turns to face Yuria, presenting a rose and pouring tears from her eyes, "SAVIOR!!"

Karouko Tsubaki, the supposed president of the choir club, breaks down into tears as she bit her lip in bitter agony, "Abandoned club...abandoned club! The choir club is in a crisis to be abolished... There was a slump in the contests for many years and the club expenses were reduced. The club members began to quit one after another, leaving only me, the club president. Unless we win at this year's nation-wide choir tournament... They'll shut down the club!"

"That's absurd!" Yuria cries out in shock, "And after I went so far to transfer to this school...!"

"Yuria!" Karouko shouts, grabbing Yuria's hands, "Let's combine our powers and go for it!"

"O…of course!" Yuria stutters. The two began to dance around the room in agony and sorrow, "So...where are the club members?"

"Gone!" Kaoruko sobs.

"So the club expenses..."

"Gone too."

"Which means..."

They prance around the room, "O..."

Then break apart and sing a beautifully loud call.

_**OUENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!**_

The double doors in the next room fly open to reveal three men surrounding a piano, one of them, Hayato Saionji, sat at the keys as he runs his hands over the notes, playing a beautiful song.

"We need to bring new choir members!" Yuria stutters as she grabs her head in fright. As if on cue, the three men appear behind her and shout "osu" at the top of their lungs. Spontaneously, she shouts in determination, grabbing several stacks of flyers and running out to the front of the building to begin her search for members.

_Watashi no omamori  
Ohana maagaretto  
Chiisana watashi o yasashisa de_

A lot of the students passing by gave little notice of Yuria's campaign. Kaoruko watches anxiously as her new member hesitates with each person that ignores her. Determined not to give up, Yuria began preaching about the plight of the club and how joining it could save them from abolishment. Enthused by her words, the recent passerby stop and form a crowd around her, accepting the flyers as she vigorously began handing them out.

_Tsutsumu hito ga sukina hana de_

"President!" Yuria shouts an hour later, presenting Kaoruko with a large group of girls, "We finally have new members!"

"We did it!" Kaoruko shouts, grabbing her conductor's wand, "1, 2, 3!"

On cue, the new members began to sing gracefully, as though they were angels smiling from heaven. Enthused, Kaoruko pulls Yuria to the side, patting her shoulder.

"Isn't this great, Savior!?" she laughs.

"N...no way..." Yurika mutters in stunned silence.

Kaoruko then knocks her to the floor and points to her, "Now let's restart our club expense income by babysitting!"

"Babysitting!?" Yurika shrieks, having no experience with caring for children. The new squad shows up behind her, shouting "osu" again and filling her with another dose of ambition.

_Tomadoi ga otozureru  
Toki ni kagitte  
Jibun o nazedaka kurushimeteru_

Having turned their club into a play room, the girls tried their best to keep the kids happy. But because of their lack of experience, the children became restless, screaming for their mothers while freaking everyone out. Yuria, panicked by the child wiggling with the loneliness of being away from his parents, began to sing softly to him.

In an instant, he slowly stops whining and begins to laugh happily to the sound of her voice. The rest of the club look towards her in astonishment before deciding to follow her lead and use their own voices to calm the children down. The entire room miraculously transforms from fussy and restlessness, to peace and joyfulness.

_Sonna toki koso  
Yasashisa agetaino_

"Nap time!" Kaoruko shouts, swinging her wand into the air "Let's go!"

The choir gathers around, each holding a child, as they began to sing a lullaby with voices so beautiful, it almost sounded like the warmth of their mothers. The children are lulled to sleep by the soft sounds of their voices and the gentle rocking of their arms.

The moment Yuria places the child in the crib, Kaoruko grabs her and pulls her into a tilt in her arms.

"I leave this tune to you, Savior!" she says.

"N...no way..." Yuria mutters in shock. Kaoruko suddenly drops her to the floor and points at her again.

"But the volume isn't enough!" she shouts, "Our voices need to reach as far as the outside of these walls!"

"But how!?" Yuria yelps in shock.

The new squad appears behind her, shouting "osu" again and filling her with another douse of burning ambition. She quickly rounds up the rest of the choir and pulls them into the meadow several miles from town, believing it would be the best place to practice the volume of their voices.

_Wasurenaide mitsumeru koto o  
Ima dekirudeshoo?_

Imashikanai kono jikan o  
Anata shidai de  
Real life nagareyuku  
Real heart kawariyuku

At Kaoruko's cue, the choir began to sing at a rather soft volume. She stares at them wearily while Yuria cringes at the poor performance. She stops a moment, takes a deep breath, and then bursts out in a loud, wondrously proud note. The rest of the choir look at her in surprise before doing the same, causing the meadows to become so lively, even the flowers couldn't help but dance to their beautiful voice.

Their practice, however, came to a screeching halt as a wild boar charged through the meadow. To further their shock, the principal of the girl's academy stood in its path, trimming the tall grass of the meadow and seeming oblivious to the oncoming disaster.

"President!" Yuria shouts, "The principal's in trouble!"

"Fortessimo!" Kaoruko shouts, throwing her wand into the air.

The choir turn their attention towards the principal, shouting as loud as they could.

"Teacher! Behind you!" they shout. When he couldn't hear them, they resort to the volume of their voices, singing "Watch out" with such a loud, but graceful volume, it was almost as if the earth was calling to him.

Finally hearing their words, he jumps out of the way, allowing the boar to fly right by him and smack its snout into a tree.

"Thank you, choir club!" the principal shouts, throwing a thumbs-up towards the girls who saved him, "From now on, you have my full cooperation."

At the day of the tournament, Kaoruko points to the stage, burning with ambition.

"At last!" she shouts, "The performance!!"

_Watashi no sasae  
Kokoro ga tsuyokunaru_

With everything they practiced for, performing to a large audience seemed like child's play to the choir. They got up on stage when called and played their numbers with such beauty, power and volume. Everyone looked joyous and happy doing their skit for the tournament.

_Wasurenaide mitsumeru koto o  
Ima dekirudeshoo?  
Imashikanai kono jikan o  
Anata shidai de  
Real life nagareyuku  
Real heart kawariyuku_

"And the overall victory goes to..." the announcer said at the near end of the tournament, "Versailles girl's academy choir club!"

The girls squeal with delight at the sound of their club being chosen as winner of the tournament. Kaoruko glomps Yuria once the lights flashed on them.

"Everyone did a great job!" she shouts. The two were immediately met by the principal who smiles excitedly at the victory.

"Principal!" Yuria shouts with delight.

"I've decided to allow you the continuance of the girl's choir club!" the principal laughs happily.

"Thank you!" Kaoruko shouts with enthusiasm, throwing her arm around Yuria's shoulder, "As I thought, Yuria is the supreme savior!"

* * *

Late that afternoon, Hayato heads out of the school with his two companions, Tsuyoshi Moriyama, with his bald head and round glasses, and Kenshin Sugita, with his closed eyes and long, reddish-orange braid, following on either side of him. As they were making their way down the sidewalk, they're immediately greeted by Atsushi, Ryuta and Ittetsu.

The two squads stare at each other, Ouen out of suspicion and weariness, and their new rivals, spiritually, out of determination and will to prove something. The differences in their beliefs and prides conflict with each other, making it impossible for either side to accept any kind of welcome.

While there was more to the Ouen's beliefs than just using their talents to cheer people towards their goals, what they saw in their new rivals made them even more suspicious. Though their willingness to help people is as equal as the original squad themselves, the high spirit of rivalry seem to suggest they want nothing more than to shove oppositions out of their territory so only the people living in Asahi Town would rely on them for aide. This kind of spirit was the only thing that riled up Ryuta and the rest of the squad, making them less likely to accept the appearance of the new squad and the way they run their business.

Hayato continues to stare at Ryuta challengingly before continuing onward, almost brushing past him in the most irresponsible way that further annoyed him. Ittetsu and Atsushi stare at Hayato, mentally angered before seeing their rivaling counterparts walk around them, barely giving them any glance at all.

The familiar squad of Yuhi continues to watch as their new rivals disappear down the street before reluctantly continuing down the path they were walking through earlier, intent on figuring out how they were going to settle this dispute without putting anyone else in danger.


	2. Episode 2: Western Style Ouendan

Episode 2: Western Style Ouendan

With the arrival of the Noble Squad, things haven't always been the same for Ouen. Settling in Asahi Town, the new Ouendan took rein of the citizen's cry for help even before the veterans were aware of their problems, leaving them dumbfounded, clueless, and agitated.

Rumors began to spread among the familiar group concerning Noble's reasons for pushing them around. Most thought they were being zealous; wanting to force Ouen into retirement before they have a say in anything. Others felt Noble, having just moved into Tokyo, were nervous about the whole change in atmosphere; preferring to assert themselves in a way they think is best suited for them.

Though uptight about their own rumors, they do little to strengthen the trust of their hometown of Yuhi and make the citizens rely on them to at least give them a reason to keep up this cheerleading business. Noble had sensed this lack of commitment and were befuddled as to why Ouen wasn't at all worried that they could be going out of business at any given moment.

They soon heard rumors spread by the citizens of Japan that their rival isn't the only squadron responding to the cries of Tokyo. An overseas organization had somehow managed to achieve half of the work behind Ouen's back, and the familiar squad is doing little to stop them. Noble feared this foreign Ouendan, believing they would eventually muscle their way into Asahi Town and send them packing before they could even stop them. They had little clue just how big these aptly named "Western Ouendan" have become next to the squad that had been spending years giving Japan a reason to fight their problems.

* * *

"WAH! I'M BORED!!" Spin, fifth member of Elite Beat Agents' first unit, complains as he skulks down the hallways of his temporary, high-tech home, "Why do I have to be stuck here all month long while they go down to Japan and loosen their strings! I swear we need more security around here so I don't have to be stuck in this place all bleedin' long and miss out on all the fun!"

He sighs as he reaches the Command Room and presses his badge against the panel below the keypad, hearing the doors shoot open. He walks into the room, deciding to watch some random videos of past events to kill time, when he saw that the large computer at the far end of the room was already active, playing several different kinds of anime.

Upon hearing the doors open, the large chair below the monitor turns slightly, revealing Ryuta as he turns his head to glance at Spin's arrival.

"I didn't think anyone was still here," Ryuta muttered, "I almost thought, with the rest of you wandering around Japan, that last spirit were the dogs Jonouchi left behind."

"Har, funny," Spin grumbles, "And what reason would you be doing waitin' 'til everyone left? I'm sure ain't just to abuse the Em-O-Meter's advanced wifi-capabilities."

"Have a lot on my mind. Need a place to think."

"Oh, like what?"

"Not your concern." Spin cocks his lips to one side in annoyance as Ryuta turns to face him, "So, why did you stay behind? I figured you'd be down East with the rest of EBA."

Spin scoffs and leans against the wall, "You think I stayed here by choice!? They needed one of us to stay behind and keep an eye on Central. No one was willin' to do so, so we wound up drawing straws to see who had to stay." He reached into his pocket and pulls out a three inch straw, "Guess who drew short?"

"Uso! Why didn't they just come to us for help? I'm sure one of us wouldn't mind staying here while you spend your vacation in Japan."

"Not to sound critical..." Spin mutters, pointing to the monitor, "But I think that answered your question right there."

Ryuta eyes the anime still playing on the monitor before looking back to Spin, "So Chieftain still doesn't trust us. That doesn't mean you have to think the same way. Since I'm staying here a while, why not go down to Japan yourself? I'm sure they won't mind someone else looking over this place while you're gone."

"You sure?"

"Don't worry. If I see anything unusual, I'll be sure to let you know so you can check it out."

Spin stands up, jittering with anticipation, "Cool! Thanks, man! You're a lifesaver!" without wasting a moment, he runs out of the room.

* * *

"Dosukoi!" shouts a voice from the banks of Yuhi River. This is a traditional chant of Ebi-yama, a young sumo wrestler with a red topknot that almost resembles a lobster.

"**Go for it, Ebi-yama!**" his younger siblings shout from the sidelines.

From the bridge several feet above the sumo stable, Hajime Tanaka, rookie Ouen Squad member with glasses and an officer's hat covering most of his shaved head, sat on the rails, with his crossed arms resting on his knees, as he watches the chubby wrestler get shoved out of the sumo ring by a skinny, elderly wrestler with a black topknot and glasses. Morris and Derek, EBA's third and fourth Agents, stood beside Hajime, their elbows resting against the rail of the bridge.

"There you are!" shouts a voice. The three look to the other side of the pillar to see Chieftain, highest ranking member of EBA with black hair and a cowboy hat, barge towards Morris and Derek in a huff, "The innkeepers have just finished preparing our baths and I turn around to find you two, the most eager participants of this vacation, turn around and wander off while leaving me to explain your actions!?"

"We can't help it if we're bored," Morris said with a shrug, "We heard some sumo trainin' was goin' on and thought we'd check it out."

"If you ask me, just watchin' this guy get plowed to the ground is boring enough as it is." Derek mutters. Chieftain's frown increases as he looks down towards the Yuhi River bank.

"**Hey you! Get up!**" the coach shouts as he slaps his baton on the ground in front of Ebi-yama, "**Unless you win in the next tournament, you, a sumo of the fourth highest rank, will continue to lose to Garigari-yama in the premier!**" he roars.

Ebi-yama shudders as his younger siblings crowd around him, shaking in fright.

"**That guy's scary, Nii-chan,**" one of them mutters.

The coach barges into Ebi-yama's face, "**You're the only highest-ranking sumo in this stable with more losses than wins!** Koke! Koke!!" he then crows like a rooster, frightening Ebi-yama even more.

"**Allow me to explain,**" Garigari-yama said, readjusting his glasses, "**For starters, the reward from the sumo association will cease continuation! This stable is in dissolution!**" he points to Ebi-Yama, spilling tears of agony, "**Onii-san here who doesn't have any relatives and very young siblings will be forced out into the roadside if he continues this losing streak!**"

"Koke!" the coach clucks.

Ebi-yama shudders in fright as he looks down at his siblings, almost imagining the pain they would be in if they were force out onto the streets, begging for food and shelter.

"O..." he stutters, looking left and right of his siblings, "O..."

Finally, he pulls his arms up as his siblings cling onto them like human armbands as Ebi-yama cries at the top of his lungs.

_**OUENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!**_

"Well, whad'ya know," Morris chuckles, "We get to see two shows in one."

Chieftain snorts as he crosses his arms, waiting a few minutes before frowning, "So where are they? I thought you said they show up at a moments notice."

"Big guy's gotta eat, right?" Hajime said, not looking over to Chieftain, "I wouldn't blame Kai for not wanting to come out their stable on an empty stomach."

Chieftain just about exploded with anger, "He's what!?"

Without a moments notice, the tall Agent leaps off the bridge and lands on the bank, startling everyone below it as he storms towards a small shack near the river. He throws the door open to find Atsushi, Ittetsu and Kai Doumeki, the Ouen Squad chief with a tattered outfit and an officer's hat, that would've matched Hajime's had it not been torn up from years of intense training, crowding around a bowl of Japanese vegetables steaming on an electric stove.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Chieftain exclaims, grabbing the three Ouen's attention as they look up from their bowls.

"What does it look like we are doing?" Kai snorts, picking up a crab leg between his chopsticks, "We have not had breakfast yet, so we are eating here."

"There is a sumo in need of help and you're sittin' here, stuffing your face!? If you were anymore prepared, you wouldn't be in this situation, you lazy pig!" a vein pops out of Kai's forehead upon hearing that remark.

"Oh, boy..." Morris mutters.

"Here we go..." Derek mutters as well.

Kai barges out of the shack, getting into Chieftain's face with a look more enraged than what was expressed from the top Agent. Ebi-yama and his siblings shudder as they back away.

"How dare you talk to me like as if I was a novice! Do you think you can do so much better than me just because you jump out of vehicles and flash your license in front of those who call for you!?" he growled. Chieftain wasn't the least bit shaken by Kai's vulgarity.

"At least I make sure I have everything I need to perform my duties without fail!" Chieftain growls back, "I don't just take advantage of my 'great ninja' skills to sneak into someone's house and mess around with their belongings up 'til they scream for my help!"

"Is that so!?" Kai throws his finger towards Ebi-yama, who continues to shudder in fright, "Fine then, let us see how well you do when you use your Ouendan performance to cheer that sumo into winning this year's tournament!"

"You got it, grizzly bear!" Chieftain snarls.

"**What are those two talking about, Nii-chan?**" one of the siblings mutter. Ebi-yama continues to look at the two squabbling cheerleaders, blue in the forehead and covered in sweat.

"**Kids...**" he groans, "**I'm beginning to think I just got dragged into a debate between rivals...**"

"Wow," Hajime chuckles, eyeing Morris and Derek, "If it wasn't for the fact that Ittetsu and Atsushi had to put up with this everyday, I'd be feeling sorry for your lack of opinion."

"Feel sorry for us?" Morris mutters.

"I think the person you should be sorry for is that sumo," Derek chuckles.

"Hey you! The guys wearing the same suit as me!" Chieftain shouts, pointing to Morris and Derek, "Quit your jabbering and get down here right now!" the two back-ups sigh and shrug before heading down to the bank. The moment they left the bridge, Hajime catches sight of an adolescent leaning his hands on the rails near the center of the bridge. He had the same outfit as the rest of the Noble Squad; his neck-long, straight hair a hazel brown; wearing the same, white bandana as Hayato.

Hajime frowns in suspicion. He had been told about a new squad that had taken refuge of the sister town of Yuhi, but he's only met them through their enormous rival spirit. This member had the same low rhythmic spirit as him, but his lack of awareness only suggests that he's been with Noble for roughly a few months. How this will effect his future was uncertain at the moment.

_

* * *

_

Sari yuku anata e okuru kotoba

"**I still think this is a bad idea...**" Ebi-yama mutters after the coach tied him to a small bandwagon.

"Koke!" the coach shouts, "**We are going to whip you into shape one way or another! Now quit your whining and start running!**" with that, he hits the gas peddle, causing the wagon to speed off down the bank. Ebi-yama yelps in shock as he gets dragged along with it, struggling to stay on his feet while trying to keep up with the vehicle.

Morris, Chieftain and Derek, meanwhile, stay near the bottom of the bridge. They began using an aggressive form of cheerleading that completely rivaled that of Kai's.

_Kure nazumu machi no hikari to kage no naka  
Sari yuku anata e okuru kotoba_

Ebi-yama pants as he tries to stay on his feet while keeping after the vehicle. Garigari-yama shouts at him from his megaphone, trying to get him to move faster. Finally, the lobster-headed sumo gathered enough energy and stamina to charge ahead of the wagon, almost keeping him near the front as the entire cast cheered him on with joy.

_Kanashimi koraete hohoemu yori mo  
Namida kareru made naku hou ga ii_

On the first day of the tournament, Ebi-yama is pit against Wakaouji, the first of many opposing sumo wrestlers to come. Fueled by ambition, he eagerly waits for the ref to signal the start of the match.

"Miatte," the ref began, "Hakkeyoi. Nokotta!"

_Hito wa kanashimi ga ooi hodo  
Hito ni wa yasashiku dekiru no dakara_

Right on cue, Ebi-yama charges towards Wakaouji, his motions a blur and his movements, hard to predict. The codenamed "Lady Killer" could only watch in stunned shock as the young sumo slams him out of the ring with little effort.

"**A slapping attack can't even stop the eyes!**" the announcer roots as the crowd cheers for Ebi-yama's first victory.

That night at the stable everyone sat down to have dinner. To beef up Ebi-yama's weight for the next tournament, he was forced to eat more than he should. Starving from his earlier competition, he wasted no time in gobbling down almost half the contents that the stable had bought earlier with what little they had left.

_Sayonara dake de wa sabishisugiru kara  
Ai suru anata e okuru kotoba_

On the fourth day of the tournament, Ebi-yama is pitted against the macho sumo wrestler, Mukimuki-nishki, a somewhat scrawny looking sumo wrestler. The size of the wrestler didn't faze Ebi-yama one bit as he gets into position and waits for the start of the match.

"Miatte," the ref said, "Hakkeyoi. Nokotta!"

Ebi-yama rushes towards Mukimuki-nishiki, slower than usual, but with a fierce look on his face. He grabs his opponent before he could react, crushing him like the jaws of an alligator before body slamming him to the mat.

"**Ebi-yama! What great perseverance at the edge of the ring!**" his siblings shout with joy.

"**I need more power!**" Ebi-yama shouts after returning to the stable. The coach smacks his flimsy baton on his back.

"Koke!" he shouts, "**This isn't the time to whine, Ebi-yama! The next step of your training is going to make you so strong, you can wrestle an elephant to the ground!**"

"**E...Elephant...?**" Ebi-yama mutters nervously. The coach walks over to a large crate riddled with air holes and kicks one side of it down. There was nothing but darkness inside, but the sound of an elephants roar could be heard echoing throughout most of Yuhi River.

Suddenly, a large elephant charges out of the crate, heading straight for Ebi-yama. The young sumo screams in fright as he scrambles away from the rampaging mammal.

_Yuugure no kaze ni togireta keredo  
Owari made kiite okuru kotoba_

Ebi-yama eventually reaches the wall of the bridge, panicking as he turns to see the elephant still rampaging towards him. Gritting his teeth in desperation, he threw his hands in front of him, causing the elephant to slam its head into them.

Surprisingly, Ebi-yama's strength manages to keep it from crushing him against the wall as he yells a battle cry and starts shoving the oversize mammal down the bank of the river. His siblings and coaches watch from the sidelines, cheering as he continues to push the elephant back towards the crate while it struggled to knock him down.

_Shinjirarenu to nageku yori mo  
Hito wo shinjite kizu tsuku hou ga ii_

On the ninth day of the tournament, Ebi-yama gets pitted against the powerful Deka-no-sugi, a sumo who appears larger then his young opponent. Ebi-yama gets into position as he waits for the ref to signal the start of the match.

_Motomenaide yasashisa nanka  
Okubyoumono no iiwake dakara_

"Miatte," the ref began, "Hakkeyoi. Nokotta!"

Immediately, Ebi-yama charges towards his large opponent, his hands by his ears as though he were an elephant. Caught off guard, Deka-no-sugi tries to move out of the way only to be slammed out of the ring by a massive head butt.

"**Ebi-yama delivers a powerful blow!**" the announcer shouts with joy.

Back at the stable, the coach fastens the rope attached to the wagon around Ebi-yama's waist.

"**What!? This again!?**" he yelps.

"**You have gotten slow, Ebi-yama!**" the coach shouts, "**You must rework your speed for the next competition, or your winning streak will be broken!**" with that, he hits the gas peddle, causing the wagon to speed down the riverbank while jerking Ebi-yama with it.

_Hajimete ai shita anata no tame ni  
Kazari mo tsukezu ni okuru kotoba_

At first, Ebi-yama seemed reluctant to try and keep up, but after realizing how fast he was last time, he immediately began picking up pace, once again managing to pull himself neck and neck with the front of the wagon.

On the fourteenth day of the tournament, Ebi-yama finds himself in déjà vu, facing the twin brother of the Lady killer, Wakaouji; Takaouji. Remembering how he dealt with Wakaouji, Ebi-yama isn't fazed by his new opponent and eagerly waits for the match to start.

"Miatte," the ref began, "Hakkeyoi. Nokotta!"

Implementing the same technique that took out his twin brother, Ebi-yama charges towards Takaouji at breakneck speed. The opposing sumo was caught off guard as he was effortlessly slammed out of the ring by the young wrestler.

"**A slap attack that doesn't even stop the eye!**" the announcer shouts with glee.

The final day of the tournament fast approaches. With everything on the line, Ebi-yama is prepped to train for the biggest battle of his career. Now he faced his old mentor, Garigari-yama, in an exposition match that will forever seal the fate of the young sumo's future.

_Kore kara hajimaru kurashi no naka de  
Dareka ga anata wo ai suru deshou  
Dakedo watashi hodo anata no koto wo  
Fukaku ai shita yatsu wa inai_

Garigari-yama, being a veteran of sumo wrestling, still became a match for Ebi-yama, blocking every move he could make towards the old man. Not one to give up after getting this far into the tournament, Ebi-yama resorts to old-fashion pummeling, knocking Garigari-yama's hands off him and laying slap after slap upon his old mentor.

_Toozakaru kage ga hitogomi ni kieta  
Mou todokanai okuru kotoba_

The final day of the sumo tournament arrives as Ebi-yama faces his final opponent; sumo grand champion Retsugo-riki, a proud looking wrestler it has won many battles. The moment the match begins, Ebi-yama shouts a sumo battle cry combining everything he had been trained to use in previous tournaments into one powerful shove that he used to slam the grand champion straight out of the ring.

"**He did it!**" the announcer shouts as all of Ebi-yama's supporters and siblings cheer for joy, "**Ebi-yama, a rank-and-file sumo wrestler as beaten the grand champion and won the title!**"

"**An overall sumo victory with no losses!**" Garigari-yama and their coach shout as they embrace themselves in an excitable hug.

_Oh_

_Mou todokanai okuru kotoba_

* * *

"Admit it, Kai," Chieftain egged on, elbowing the annoyed squad chief on the shoulder, "I did a much better job than you did."

Kai snorts and looks away from him, "You are too stiff. That cheer was out of pure luck, not good performance."

"Are you looking for excuses to avoid admitting my superiority over you?" Chieftain chuckles tauntingly, "Shows how little you know about true sportsmanship."

Hajime watches from the bridge. This time, instead of sitting on the rails, he simply leaned his elbows onto it, watching as the two continued to bicker among themselves. Spin appears behind him, about to walk by when he overheard the squabble and looks down at the riverbank below them.

"Those two haven't changed at all, have they?" Spin mutters.

"At least Kai was being critical about Chieftain's performance," Hajime said, "Last time he dared him to do a cheer, he didn't say anything and just walked off."

Spin cocks his lips to one side as he turns to continue down the bridge. By the time he faced the other side, he noticed the same adolescent from 14 days ago leaning his hands against the rails and staring down at the bickering higher-ups. His expression hasn't changed since the first day he saw Chieftain perform to Ebi-yama; always frowning, and almost seeming as if he wasn't enjoying the sight before him.

The BA-5 Agent raises an eyebrow as he looks back to his Japanese counterpart, pointing towards the blue Ouendan, "Yo, what's with the kid in blue?" Hajime eyes Spin before turning his head to look at the adolescent.

"They showed up several weeks ago," Hajime said, rather sternly, "Took refuge in Asahi Town, and banned us from responding to the citizens living there."

"Seriously!? What for?"

"Who knows? Everyone has their own opinions; Ittetsu and Atsushi think they're trying to chase us into another part of Japan, while Kai thinks they're being overzealous, dominating one side of the city just so they can prove their better than us, and the girls think they're slow settlers, not trusting anyone unless they see for themselves just how dependable we could be. Ryuta hasn't said much since they showed up. But the way he looks seems to suggest he's teetering towards agreeing with half of everyone's opinions."

"So...what's your opinion then?"

Hajime remained still for a minute before standing up and placing his fists behind his back, "I'm just as uncertain as Ryuta. Half of me thinks they showed up just so they can make people depend on them more than us. The other half thinks they aren't as prepared as they were hoping. They may've known there was another Ouendan making a name for themselves, but their confidence began to waver once they showed up and met us face-to-face. They most likely acted aggressive against us out of fear that we would make Tokyo look down on them as jokers trying to size up the competition."

Spin huffs a bit in interest, placing his fists on his side as he looks back to the blue Ouendan, then moves towards him. The unfamiliar Ouendan immediately turns his head towards the Agent, frowning in caution. Spin comes to a stop, surprised at first, but then sports a cocky grin as he slips his hands into his pocket.

"Hey there, new kid," he said, "How're things in the..." he didn't get a chance to finish as the Ouendan's frown increased in anger, then turns and storms down the bridge towards Asahi. Spin cringes from the sudden shut out and takes one step back.

"I don't think he's gonna take too kindly to you after what he saw two weeks ago," Hajime said as he had watched the whole scenario unfold, "After the way Chieftain ratted Kai out, he's likely to think the rest of you disrespect Ouendan tradition, preferring to make everyone believe jumping out cars and planes is more humane than just showing up out of nowhere and messing with their belongings 'til we see the opportunity to spring into action."

Spin sighs a moan as he slumps his shoulders, lost in thought before a familiar voice booms behind him.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" the two rookies stumble away from the voice, turning to see Chieftain towering over them with an aggravated look on his face.

Chieftain bends down to Spin and jabs his finger onto the top of his nose, "You obviously didn't measure the height of your straw. We specifically told you to stay in Central and keep an eye on it 'til we return!"

"Aw, geez, Chief!" Spin whines, "What'm I supposed to do for a whole month! You can't expect me to just fire up the holodeck and think I'm in Japan!" he turns away from Chieftain and crosses his arms, "Besides. Ryu said he'd take over while I'm gone! I'm sure he'll take good care of the place!"

"I couldn't trust his word if they came up positive on the Em-O-Meter!" Chieftain grabs the headband of Spin's headphones, using them as a handle to haul the rookie Agent back into Yuhi Town, "C'mon you! We're gonna have a little chat with your red-headed friend!"

"Hey! Cut it out, Chieftain! I ain't luggage, you know!" Spin complains.

Hajime places his hands on the rail of the bridge, leaning on them as he gets a look of the two disappearing into the city, "You think you can get Ryuta to bring back some of those peach-shaped, lotus bean buns!?"

"You're not helping, Haji!" Spin complains as Chieftain hauls him around the corner.

* * *

A tall man wearing the same outfit as the new Ouendan stood at the docks of Asahi Town, staring out at the sun slowly sinking into the ocean. He had a somewhat neutral look on his face, almost seeming impossible to know how well he's enjoying the view. His eyes shifted towards the brown-haired adolescent, who skulks up to him, the frown still plastered on his child-like face.

"**It's not like you to be this troubled, Kikuchi Shinta,**" the man said, "**Are those Western Ouendan giving you that much grief?**"

"**This tradition has been going on for centuries,**" Shinta grumbles before glaring at the tall man, "**And that bastard had the nerves to show up and claim we aren't prepared to cheer people on! How can they just take all that criticism and go about their duties like it was nothing to them!?**"

"**They have their own reasons for keeping the anger bottled up inside,**" the man said, "**I, on the other hand, am appalled that such ruffians would go around, acting like they can do better than us.**" He turns around, "**I want to meet these Western Ouendan; see for myself if they truly are what those rumors claims them to be.**" He heads off into town, leaving Shinta to look between him and the sunset before running off after him.

End Notes:

1. If your confused by what went on during the sumo storyline, you're not alone. Even with the cultrual referance included in the translation guide on GameFAQs, I still couldn't make heads or tails of the whole thing other than the fighting segments. You may have to refer to the guide in order to figure out what's going on in this episode.  
2. "Koke" is one of the many Japanese words for "idiot" or "fool". It also sounds like a chicken clucking, hence why the coach crowed when he shouts "koke" twice.  
3. I felt there was no reason to include the Ouendan popping in and shouting "osu" before the next part of the performance. After all, the Agents pretty much grab people's attentions with just their appearance alone.  
4. A lotus seed bun is one of the many Chinese dim sums made from lotus seeds, even though they look like sticky glops of brown suger, and wrapped in a hot, white pastery. The peach shaped lotus seed buns are just a design that I saw at a Chinese buffet my family and I would go to on rare occassions.


	3. Episode 3: The Consequences

Episode 3: The Consequences of Misunderstanding

Spin reluctantly climbs back into the convertible late that afternoon as Chieftain hovers over him. His mood hadn't changed since the two bumped into each other on the bridge.

"You're so high-strung," Spin grumbles.

"Shut up and get Ryu on the line!" Chieftain growls, "I wanna see for myself just how good of a job he's doin' filling in your spot!"

Spin grumbles in annoyance as he began pressing buttons near a small monitor on the right side of the steering wheel. His glance towards the screen only lasted a split second before he threw his hands over it.

"Well?" Chieftain asked.

"Uh..." Spin stutters, "He seems too busy to wanna talk right now." Chieftain's eyebrow began to twitch in frustration, "Maybe we should check up..."

"Forget the check up!" Chieftain growls, knocking Spin's hands off, "I'm sure he's not too busy to have a little one-on-one with..." he then trails off when he sees five dogs surrounding the large chair in the Command room. All of them were wagging their tail in anticipation as they watched something on the monitor.

"It's like a waiting game!" a short haired, brown spotted, white Shih Tzu says in a monotone, child-like voice. He wore a Japanese-print collar with a bone-shaped device pressed against his throat

"How do you think he'll do tonight?" asked a golden retriever. She wore a violet red beret and a denim collar with the same bone-shaped device as the Shih Tzu.

"If Mr. Ippongi's at work, I'm sure he won't mess up this time!" barks a Siberian husky. She had sports shades over her eyes and wore a red collar with the same device pressed against her throat.

Chieftain glares at Spin who throws his hands up in protest.

"Hey! Don't look at me! I ain't the one who let them in!" he retorts.

The dogs turn their heads towards the two, barking and wagging their tail.

"Look! It's Mr. Spin and Mr. Chieftain!" barks a Yorkie. She wore a yellow and white striped beanie hat with a pompom on top, and a dotted collar holding a device near her throat.

"How's Japan, Mr. Spin and Mr. Chieftain!?" barks a black Shiba Inu. He wore a spiked collar with the same device as the rest of the dogs.

"Where's Ryu!?" Chieftain growls, "He said he was gonna watch this place while Spin was gone!"

"He was, Mr. Chieftain!" the husky barks, "But then he was called out to encourage a boy to not wet his bed!"

"That's right!" the Shih Tzu yips, "In order for him to help out, he needs a quiet place to concentrate!"

"And what better way than a quiet meadow in the holodeck!" the Yorkie barks, standing on her hind legs and waving her front paws around.

Chieftain growls as he hits another button beside the monitor, switching to a wide open meadow. They find Ryuta laying on his side with one knee up and his head resting on his hand, snoring so quietly, it was hard to tell if he was actually asleep.

"He looks so peaceful when he sleeps," the golden retriever said.

"But don't forget, he has to be this way if he wants to help that boy become a big kid!" the husky yips.

"Wow, he must be hard at work then," Spin said with a smirk, "I don't think he even knows he's bein' watched." A vein just about jumped out of Chieftain's head.

"Hard at work, eh?" he growls, "Well, allow me to lighten the load!" He reaches into the glove compartment and pulls out a small remote, pressing some buttons lined up on top.

Water began to seep through the grass as the meadow slowly sank into it. Spin cringes as he watches Ryuta go down with the environment, seeming completely oblivious to the whole metamorphic event.

The five dogs stare at the monitor where Ryuta had disappeared into the water, then looks to another monitor on the upper left corner, seeing a boy with brown hair shaved into a bowl-like hair style stir uncomfortably, almost as if he was having a nightmare.

"No...c'mon! You can do it!" the husky whines as all five arch down and drop their tails. After a minute, the boy suddenly springs up, screaming in fright and clutching his blanket to the point of tearing holes into them. He sat up for a few minutes, blinking, pulls the sheets up while looking underneath them, then drops his arms and cries in frustration.

"Aw no!" the dogs whine as they threw their front paws up in horror, "Ouen failed!"

"He was so close too!" the Shih Tzu whines. Ryuta slowly came up, his wild hair limp on his face while his topknot dropped to a high ponytail. His legs dangle below the surface as he swung his arms back and forth so slowly he barely managed to keep his nose out of the water to breathe. He shook his bangs to the right side of his face and glares up at the screen, showing Chieftain and Spin, in annoyance.

"Well, you can thank Mr. Spoiled-Sport for ruining a perfectly good Ouen," he grumbles, breathing heavily from the pressure of the water surrounding his neck.

Chieftain nearly presses his face into the monitor, "Oh, tell me another! It's bad enough that you're going around, taking advantage of people's helplessness to mess with their stuff!" Ryuta rolls his eyes in more annoyance, knowing what was going to happen next.

"Ahou..." he mutters, his voice straining from the amount of time he had his head positioned to keep his mouth above the surface. Not wanting to put up with Chieftain's tirade he stops swinging his arms, dropping them by his side as he slowly sank, drawing in as much air as he could until the water reached his forehead.

"But do you honestly expect me to believe that little snooze-fest was supposed to help some kid not wet his bed everynight!?" by the time Chieftain stopped for a response, Ryuta had already sunk 2ft below the surface, crossing his arms and legs while curling into a sitting position, almost seeming to ignore him, "Hey! I know you can still hear me, Ryu! The water isn't so dense that you could shut me out that easily!"

Two minutes pass before Ryuta finally resurfaced, higher than before, swinging his arms in a circular motion while kicking his legs past each other to stay afloat.

"If you had gone to bed sooner and wound up in the same dream as Takuya, you wouldn't be talking to me like that," he grumbled breathlessly, bringing his hands up to ruffle the water out of his hair. He then stops after getting his hair back into a somewhat spiky appearance and turns his back on Chieftain, rubbing his chin in thought, "Hey! There's a thought; getting you to help him grow up. Not only would that've spared me the unneeded swimming lesson, it'd also knock some sense into you about how we handle our daily routine."

"Wow! That would be cool!" the Shih Tzu yips.

"Yeah! Agent Chieftain, an icon for children to learn how to be big kids!" the husky howls. More veins began to pop out of Chieftain's forehead as he turns and glares at the dogs in the Command Room.

"Command Room! Out! Now!" he barked before glaring back at Ryuta, "And you! If you're going to do your part in keeping an eye on Central, do us all a favor and at least ACT like you're doing a good job of it!" Ryuta drops his hand below the surface and turns his head towards the holographic screen showing Chieftain and Spin.

"What? You don't trust man's best friend?" Ryuta snorts, turning to face the screen, "I'm sure if they understand English, they'd be smart enough to know friend from intruder."

"Got that right!" the golden retriever barks.

"On duty!" the Yorkie yips.

"And on guard!" the Shiba Inu growls.

Chieftain darts his attention back to the dogs, "O!! U!! T!!" he roars, causing the dogs to use their arms to charade the letters, "SPELL IT AND SCRAM!!" the dogs yelp as they scramble out of the Command Room.

"**So, these are the Western Ouendan who have been putting our tradition to shame,**" said a voice. Chieftain and Spin jerk their heads to the back of the convertible, seeing two figures standing a few feet from them. One of them, the hazel brown-haired Ouendan from earlier, stood next to another Ouendan, roughly Chieftain's height. He had white dreadlocks and a cape draping over his shoulders.

Ryuta frowns from the monitor as Chieftain pulls back and turns to face the two unfamiliar Ouendan.

"**I've heard there was a second Ouendan dwelling within this city,**" the tall man said, "**Dilettantes from a foreign land who think they can do better than others, refusing to understand why such methods must be taken to maintain the reliability of those who call for them.**"

"Excuse me!?" Chieftain growls.

"**How could people even call these guys Ouendan!?**" Shinta complains, pointing towards Chieftain, "**They don't even have the appropriate attire to look like Ouendan! So why would anyone want to call on them when they can't even mimic our movements so fluently!?**"

Chieftain's anger increases as the tall Ouendan eyes Shinta.

"**It would seem that these third rated Ouendan think people would rely on them just because they were responsible for saving us from an alien invasion three years ago. It's not surprising that they would start going around the world, expecting to be called at a moments notice.**"

Chieftain shook in anger with each kanji and kana that came out of the tall man's mouth, "You...take that back, you sleazebag!" he roared, charging towards the two.

"Uh, Chief!" Spin yelps, "I wouldn't...!"

"Amateur..." the tall man mutters before thrusting his hands out and shouting "osu". The minute the sound hits Chieftain's ears, he comes to a screeching halt, high on his toes and stiff as a statue.

Spin watches nervously as the tall man walks up to Chieftain, grabs him by the necktie and effortlessly flings him over his shoulder. Three blocks down, a blonde, spiky haired woman wearing a pink kimono struts along the sidewalk, carrying a bag of groceries.

"**Ha-ha! Won't darling and Mother-in-Law be proud when I surprise them with my special dish!**" she laughs seconds before being squashed to the ground by Chieftain's large body. The BA-1 Agent sits up and glares at the tall Ouendan.

"You're dead when I get my hands on you!" he roars. He then looks down at the woman who glares back at him in the most enraged way expressed. Eggshells and yolk cover her chest as most of the other fruits and vegetables were spilled out around her, squashed and destroyed, "What're you looking at, you..."

Spin cringes as the woman grabs Chieftain by the throat, slams him to the ground and starts beating him up in a fit of anger, yelling in Japanese as he tries to explain himself. He then felt a low rhythmic presence and looks towards the sidewalk to see Shinta standing near the car door, giving him the same, frowning look as their last encounter.

The rookie Noble shifts his attention towards the monitor, seeing Ryuta treading in the simulative ocean. His frown increases upon seeing the lead Ouen, a spark of confusion lacing the frustration burning within his spirit. Ryuta just stares back at him, giving no indication of what he was currently thinking.

The tall Ouendan eventually passes by the convertible, barely giving a glance towards Shinta or the occupants inside.

"Shinta! Iku zee!" he barks as he passes by his rookie companion. Shinta continues to stare at Spin and Ryuta before continuing on after the tall Ouendan, leaving the present to stare back in confusion and worry.

* * *

"**Wait, Kuroiwa-kun!**" shouts the director of a general hospital in Asahi Town, "**I can't do anything if you quit now!**" he exasperates as he slaps his hands on his desk and stands up, "**If it's money! I'll pay as much as you...**" he's cut off when a letter of resignation flies into his face. The doctor in question, Shintarou Kuroiwa, throws the door open as he shoulders his belongings.

"**It's not about money, director,**" Shintarou exclaims, "**I want to do something that matters!**" he then heads out the door, "Chao!" and slams it behind him.

A few hours later, he reaches a docking port and climbs onto a ship destined for the country side of Asahi. He as little idea just how big of a job his goal as miracle doctor was going to be...

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want any help, Chief?" Spin asked. He had backed the convertible to where Chieftain wound up; his neck, arms and legs bind to a lamppost that had been twisted in the most complicated style ever seen.

"I know how to deal with these kinds of situations!" Chieftain growled, "I'll be just fine!"

"That's what you said five hours ago. That lady must've tied you up good."

"This' nothing, I tell ya! I'll be out of this contraption in a jiff!"

"I'm sorry...I was hoping you wouldn't get involved in this," Ryuta muttered, grabbing Spin's attention as he looks towards the monitor to see him sitting in the large chair in the Command Room.

"I still can't believe they called us preachin' amateurs after only seein' Chieftain's performance," Spin grumbled, "I thought you said we was allowed to respond to the cries outside our country."

Ryuta places his elbows on the armrest and folds his hands, resting his lips upon them, "We did, but they don't know that. Aside from knowing there was another squadron roaming around Tokyo, everything else is new to them. There could've been a million rumors that would lure them into a false sense security so strong they wouldn't even believe their own hearts."

"Well...do ya think they'd change their views if we try to show them we ain't shovin' them off the trust radar?"

Ryuta remained silent for a moment, "I'm not sure at this point. Them, being the newcomers, would pretty much believe everything that flies into their ears, regardless of whether they're true or not. The chances of getting them to understand that we have no intentions of shutting them out would be near impossible unless we do more than just talk friendly to them."

Spin furrows his eyebrows over what Ryuta said, worrying about what would happen if he did manage to confront one of the Noble Squad members and get them to realize how big of a misunderstanding they were hiding behind.

* * *

The boat approaches an island a week later. Shintarou glances at his new home in wonder and interest.

"**My patients are waiting for me,**" he said as he sees a crowd forming on the docks, "**This Island will have ideal medical treatment for sure!**" once the boat reaches the dock, Shintarou proudly steps off towards the crowd, "**Everyone, get in line for a medical exam and treat-!**"

He didn't get a chance to finish when the crowd all of a sudden washes around him screaming and yelling out various problems.

"**It's a doctor-dabe!**" one of the citizens shout.

"**A doctor has finally come to this island-dabe!**" shouts another.

"**I'm not sexy at all!**"

"**My tooth hurts!**"

"**My daughter-in-law's food is tasteless!**"

"**I'm troubled by curly hair!**"

"**My cat isn't speaking!**"

Shintarou shoves the crowd back, yelling in aggravation, "**Unless you're sick, deal with the other problems yourselves!**"

The crowd, unfortunately, didn't buy into his venting and began flooding him again, continuing with their complaints.

"**Now he's angry-dabe!**"

"**What're you saying!**"

"**It's common sense-dabe!**"

"**On this island, a doctor is supposed to cure everything!**"

"**Hurry up and cure us! CURE US!!**"

As the commotion continued, Shintarou's chances of becoming a miracle doctor seemed to be washing away from him the more he was pressured to doing things that didn't follow the procedures of modern medicine. Pushed to the limit, he tries to pull himself out of the crowd enough for him to yell at the top of his lungs.

_**OUENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!**_

* * *

Later that day, Tsuyoshi strolled along the sidewalk of Yuhi Town, carrying a suitcase of his stuff. His family followed after him, wanting to see him off as he catches a plane to America to start his job. Along the way, they noticed Ebi-yama, wearing his kimono, standing in their way, looking worried.

"**Are you sure you don't want any help?**" he asked, "**You've been stuck there for almost a week now.**"

"**I told you, I can get out of this!**" growls a voice, "**Now go away!**"

"**Nya-ha! Is that large cowboy still trapped on that lamppost?**" Tsuyoshi's younger brother snickered. He and the other members of the Handa family crowd around Chieftain, still trapped on the lamppost.

"**You haven't eaten in seven days,**" Ebi-yama muttered, "**It's a miracle you're still fit.**"

"**I've dealt with rations before!**" Chieftain snapped, "**This is nothing serious!**"

"**I still think we should stick a "kick me" sign on his butt,**" the younger brother snickered.

"**And I think you should mine your manners!**" Tsuyoshi scolds, glaring at his little brother.

Just then, a red convertible pulls up to the curb near where Chieftain hung. The hood and windows were rolled up, hiding any identity of the driver. Chieftain, growls in anger.

"Where the hell've you been!?" Chieftain complains, "Do you know how long I've been stuck out here, starved to the bone and white on the tongue!?"

"**Funny, that's not you said earlier,**" Tsuyoshi said, almost causing Chieftain to explode with anger.

The window rolls down as Ryuta stuck his head out, resting his elbow on the car door. Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious" plays on a built-in MP3 player beside him, almost seeming to taunt the tall Agent.

"Well, look who just stuck his tail between his legs and whined for his master seven days after biting his hand," he said, "Dawg finally got tired of getting his ass kicked out of boredom?"

"**Wow, I didn't know you could drive, Ouen-sama...**" the group behind Chieftain muttered, dumbfounded.

"**Just because I like walking so much doesn't mean I can't learn how to drive a few vehicles,**" Ryuta grins.

"How did you start the car!?" Chieftain growled, "You didn't hotwire it, did you!?"

Ryuta stares at Chieftain before turning his head away and rubbing his hair in frustration, "Oh, darn! Why didn't I think of that sooner!? It could've saved me the hassle of figuring out which key started the ignition!"

"Why the hell did you come out here in the first place!?" Chieftain exclaims. Ryuta gave him a stupefied look.

"Your memory must be lapsing from the lack of nourishment," Ryuta said, "Not too long ago, you were complaining about how hungry and thirsty you were. I'm no linguistic, but I think that translates into you screaming for help, hence why I came here."

"Because I thought you were Spin!" Chieftain snarls, "Where is that brat, anyway! He should still be in central keeping an eye on things!"

"Well, if you'd given up a few hours sooner, I wouldn't have asked him to do a favor for me."

"You what!?"

"It's nothing too serious. I just needed him to drop a few things off at the dojo. Half a mile from the city; I'm sure you won't mind waiting until noon for him to finish and come back here to get you." Chieftain growls in overbearing anger as Ryuta grins cockily, "Or, you can cut the wait short by letting me take you to the nearest clinic. I heard a new doctor just washed up and I'm sure he wouldn't mind getting you out of that contraption of a lamppost."

"I'd sooner wait a million years before I accept your help!" Chieftain snaps. Ryuta snorts and pulls his head back into the car.

"See you in a million years then," he said, preparing to put the car in reverse.

"JUST GET ME OUTTA THIS THING!!" Chieftain roars. Ryuta eyes him again before looking over to Ebi-yama.

"**Why don't you do the honors?**" he asked.

"**Um...okay...**" Ebi-yama muttered, a bit unsure. He walks two feet from the lamppost, then turns to face it, standing still for a few seconds before taking a deep breath, grabbing his robe and pulling it off, revealing his sumo thong.

Shouting "dosukoi" at the top of his lungs, Ebi-yama charges towards the lamppost, throwing the techniques he learned into one giant movement. Chieftain yelps in shock, struggling to pull himself free seconds before the large sumo slams his entire body into the twisted post, sending it flying down three feet before crashing into another lamppost. Everyone but Ryuta cringe as they saw the whole scenario unfold.

"Oops..." Ebi-yama mutters, "**I think I overdid it...**"

"**Nah, he's fine,**" Ryuta said, looking towards Chieftain, who's laying lopsided against the lamppost with little Ebi-yama's circling around him, shouting "dosukoi", "**He just got a bump on his head, that's all.**"

* * *

Shintarou scrambled into the clinic, slamming the door behind him and resting his back against it to catch his breath.

"**These people are crazy!**" he squeaked, "**I only know how to save human lives, not fix things! That's what vets and mechanics are for!**"

"Sure is a long line out there," mutters a female voice.

"Yeah, it's a miracle we got here before it got longer," said another. Shintarou snaps his head towards the sources of the voice to find the Elite Beat Divas, EBA's second unit, sitting in the waiting room, each reading a Japanese magazine.

"**There you are! Where've you been!**" he shouts, running over to the Divas. The three look up from their magazines, rather confused.

"**Are you the doctor here?**" asked Starr, the lead Diva with blonde hair, wearing her glasses on her forehead.

"**We were told one of our partners was in an accident and figured we look for him,**" said Missy, the youngest of the two Divas with brown pigtails and freckles.

"**That's not important right now!**" Shintarou complains, pointing out the window, "**I got a lot of people outside who think I'm supposed to cure everything! I don't know what to do!**"

"**That's...not really our problem,**" mutters Foxx, the second backup of the Divas with silver hair.

"Don't be rude, Foxx," Starr snaps, "If this guy has a problem with what's going on outside, we should be doing something to help!"

"But if we don't find Chieftain soon, he's gonna be pissed off when we see him again!" Missy mutters.

"That's right," Foxx said, "And Chieftain hasn't had his coffee in over a week. He'll be a monster by the time we find him." Starr muffles a sigh as she scratches her head in frustration.

* * *

"Are you sure the clinic'll help me get out of this contraption!?" Chieftain grumbles as he sat in an uncomfortable position in the back seat of the red convertible.

"He's a miracle doctor. He's supposed to cure anything," Ryuta said as he drove through Asahi Town.

"You better hope he does, for your sake!"

They eventually reach a large crowd, spanning nearly five feet wide and full of complaints, half of them sounding dumber than any normal person would imagine.

"Do these people actually think a doctor would fix everything!?" Chieftain grumbles.

"He must be a true miracle if he has a crowd this big," Ryuta said, barely fazed by what was going on outside the car, "At the rate this' going, we could be stuck here all day."

"Then do something to shorten the time!" Chieftain growled, glaring at Ryuta, "I ain't spending another day trapped in this lamppost!" the lead Ouendan meagerly eyes him.

"Chii, you're so picky!" he looks out the window, crossing his arms, "Alright then. If you don't want to wait, we can always resort to crowd control to get inside."

"What kind of crowd control...?" Chieftain asked, sounding uncomfortable. Ryuta placed his left elbow on the edge of the steering wheel and rests his cheek onto his hand, running his right finger in a circular motion along the center of the wheel.

"Gee, I dunno. Seems conveniently placed somewhere in this car, and should be loud enough to open a path to the door."

"Loud!?" Chieftain then noticed Ryuta's finger was starting to spiral towards the center of the steering wheel, and nearly explodes with anger, "Don't you dare, Ryu! If you so much as tap that horn, this lamppost'll go around your neck once the doctor pries it off me!"

Ryuta eyes Chieftain in annoyance, "Well, at least there's one fact both squads can agree on." He sits back and grasps the steering wheel, "Fine, I'll see if there's a backdoor around here."

The car pulls away from the front of the clinic just as Tsuyoshi, Shinta and Kenshin rush towards the back of the crowd.

"**Wah! It's so long!**" Tsuyoshi yelps as he and Kenshin stare in shock at the long line.

"**We gotta find a way in!**" he yelps, "**If we don't, we'll never be able to help the miracle doctor make a name for himself!**"

Shinta muffles a growl as he barges into the sea of patients, pushing them aside as he tries to get to the door of the clinic. The two Noble cohorts cringe as they follow after him.

* * *

"**Come on, I'm begging you!**" Shintarou pleads, "**You gotta help me! That's what you're supposed to do when someone calls you!**" The Divas look towards each other, seeming unsure of their choices. Shintarou shudders a bit before moving closer to the female Agents, "**I'll tell you what! If you can do a cheer for me, I'll treat your friend for free if he's anywhere outside!**"

The Divas look at each other again before standing up.

"**Alright! You win!**" Starr hypes up, "**Seeing as we're the only ones who can help you, we'll be more than happy to get you through this!**"

Shintarou practically cries as he grabs Starr's hands and holds them up, "**YES!! YOU ARE A MIRACLE NO DOCTOR CAN MATCH!!**"

The Divas giggle as they start preparing for their performance, completely unaware of the three Nobles standing outside the clinic, all bearing dumbfounded and enraged looks on their faces.

End Notes:

1. As with Life of an Agent, the dogs in this story are based off five of the six dogs I currently own in Nintendogs.  
2. "Ahou" means "simpleton" in Japanese  
3. "-dabe", according to GameFAQ, roughly translates to "isn't it". Because it's a suffix similar to how Higsby from the MegaMan Battle Network series often ends his sentance with "demasu", I didn't bother having the citizens of the Asahi country side end their sentance with "isn't it?".  
4. "Chii" is pretty much a similar way of saying "geez".


	4. Episode 4: The Forked Path of Truth

Episode 4: The Forked Path of Truth

Ryuta squeezed Chieftain through a rather large window in one of the rooms of the clinic. The tall Agent falls flat on his rump, rolling back to an upside down position with his head laying on the floor.

"This is supposed to be a backdoor!?" Chieftain complains.

"If you'd given me a few more minutes, I would've driven around the clinic," Ryuta said, climbing through the window, "But you kept complaining, so I had to find a faster way in."

"You drive too slowly, that's why!"

"Whatever, I'm going to see if the doctor's in." Ryuta grumbled as he heads out of the room. The minute he steps into the waiting room, J-Pop cues up on the loud speakers. He glances towards the center of the room to see the Divas' gearing up for their first performance.

Shintarou opens the door, allowing an elderly couple into the room. The woman places a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"**It looks like grandpa's going bald,**" she mutters worriedly.

"**I assure you I can cure him!**" Shintarou shouts, crossing his arms and hiding his fears, "**I'll put my entire reputation on the line!**"

The Divas giggle as they find their moment to perform. Ryuta stood in the background, staring at them before looking towards the window, seeing Tsuyoshi, Shinta and Kenshin glaring at the three girls, Shinta being the angriest of the three.

_kimi ni deaeta yorokobito, kimi ni aenai samishisa no  
ryouhou wo te ni irete, koi wa hashiridasu  
sora mo tobenai boku dakedo, kodoku wo utau yoru dakedo  
sono hoho ni, hohoemi wo ataerareta nara_

Shintarou, shaky on the procedure of hair growth, began applying some hair gel to the elderly man's head. Nothing happened at first, so he washed it off and tried something else. He saw that hair was starting to grow back onto the man's head and vigorously began applying more to the other balding areas while combing out what had already grown.

_hajimete kimi wo dakishimeta shunkan ni  
kamisama ga boku ni kudashita shimei wa kimi dake no Hero_

The operation light turns off as Shintarou exits the room, looking towards the old woman, "**The family can come in now.**"

"**Doctor!**" the woman yelps, running over to Shintarou, "**How is grandpa?**"

"**This way,**" Shintarou said, escorting her to the operation room. Upon presenting his hand, the woman saw her husband flip a long, handsome lock of hair to one side of his face, "**The operation was a great success!**"

"**Good heavens!**" the woman shrieks in love and shock. The two then crowd around Shintarou, giving him an excited hug, "**This doctor is a genuine, excellent physician-dabe!**"

"**Naturally,**" Shintarou said as he pushes his glasses up with confidence.

Another patient comes on, a man bringing in an exhausted looking horse, "**Gosaku isn't well-dabe!**"

"**Understood!**" Shintarou said, placing a hand on his chest, "**Let me make him healthy!**"

_I wanna be a pop star  
__kimi wo motto muchuu ni sasete ageru kara ne  
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou  
__kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou, kimi dakeni_

Shintarou brought the horse into the operation room, staring at him a few minutes while trying to figure out what to do to make the horse feel energized. He walked up to it and began grabbing one of its rear muscles, causing it to freak and nearly kick him in the face. He stumbles back, frightened, then catches his breath as he looks the horse over again.

He scratches his head before placing his hands on the horse's shoulders and slowly massaging it. The horse loosens up upon feeling the massage and lays down on the table. Surprised at what he had done, Shintarou began massaging more of the horse's joints, watching as it snorts and wags its tail in comfort.

_kakushite itai kurayami mo, kimi wa sotto hiroi agete  
taisetsu na boku nanda to, dakishimete kureta_

The operation lights turn off as Shintarou comes out of the room, "**The family can come in now.**"

"**Is Gosaku getting any better-dabe?**" the man asked.

"**Have a look,**" Shintarou said, pointing inside. The man looks to see his horse pumped up and shouldering a rake on its shoulder, "**He's gotten MUCH better now!**"

"**Ah!**" the man yelped in surprise before he and his horse gave Shintarou another hug, "**Doctor! I want to leave my cow in your care next time!**"

"**It can't be helped,**" Shintarou sighs, pushing his glasses back in confidence.

Another woman walks into the clinic, holding a microwave, "**My microwave is broken! Please fix it, I'm begging you!**"

"**Understood! Let's repair it!**" Shintarou said, rather nervously.

_hikari eto tsuzuku, michi aruite yukou  
kizu kabau, kono migite wa, kimi to te wo tsunagu tame ni_

Shintarou had to rely on a blueprint of the microwave to help him figure out how to fix it. He constantly stares at it as he tries to figure out why it wasn't working as well as the woman would want it. After looking back and forth a couple of times, he finds the problem and begins a mad dash to fix it.

_you're gonna be my pop star boku wo motto muchuu ni saseteyo hohoende  
kirakira no pop star sono hitomi de, boku ni mahou wo kakete ima sugu ni_

The operation light turns off as Shintarou comes out of the room, "**The family can come in now.**"

"**How's my oven!?**" the woman asked frantically. Shintarou places the microwave on a nearby table.

"**All you have to do is press the button like this...**" he said, pressing the cook button. Minutes later, the door opens to a finely sautéed lobster. The woman drools as she takes the lobster and nibbles on it for taste.

"**You're cooking skills are also ultra top-notch-dabe!**" the woman said as she elbows Shintarou in relief.

"**A doctor's frickle grill,**" Shintarou says, pushing his glasses back in confidence.

The elderly couple rush back in. The man was beginning to bald again.

"**Grandpa's going bald again!**" the woman cries.

_I wanna be a pop star kimi wo motto muchuu ni sasete ageru kara ne  
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou_

Having been familiar with the procedure, Shintarou wasn't nervous when he uses a slightly stronger brand of hair gel to bring back the old man's hair. The man sits in the patient's chair, calm and relaxed while the process was going on.

_I wanna be a pop star kimi wo gyutto, dakishimete ageru kara oide  
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou, kimi dakeni_

"**Doctor!!**" everyone cries from the window outside the clinic. Shintarou sticks his head out.

"**What's wrong?**" he asked, "**Everyone's here.**" His eyes widen in surprise as everyone presents their buffed up muscles, sporting a healthy smile.

"**Thanks to you,**" everyone said, "**The entire Island has become healthy! Please stay on the Island with us!**"

Shintarou stares in shock before shutting his eyes and spilling tears of joy, "**I will become the savior of this Island for all times!**"

The crowd cheers joyously at his decision.

Tsuyoshi and Kenshin stare at the happy ending, trembling in anger and frustration.

"**How dare they! Those Western Ouendan!**" Tsuyoshi growls, "**This was supposed to be Kikuchi-sama's chance at asserting his reliability and those vixens stole it from him!**"

"**Saionji-sama will hear this when we get back!**" Kenshin growls, looking beside him, "**Let's go Kikuchi-sama! We're...**" he suddenly freaks out, "**Ack! Kikuchi-sama's gone!**"

"**What!?**" Tsuyoshi cries, looking in Kenshin's direction to find that Shinta was no longer near them. The two panic and began whipping around, "**Where'd he go!?**"

"**Kikuchi-sama!**" Kenshin cries out, "**Get back here this minute!**"

* * *

Shinta ran along the docks near town, his face laced in anger as he looks left to right before spotting Missy and Foxx standing near the edge, looking at the slowly setting sun.

"Wow! I can't believe how well we did!" Missy pipes up with excitement, "Those patients looked happy once the doctor showed his stuff!"

"I'll say," Foxx chuckles, "This being the first time we ever performed in Asahi, we weren't sure if we'd be able to pull it off!"

Missy looks over to Foxx, "Totally! You should've seen the look on Ryu's face when he saw us perform! It's almost as if he was too stunned to say anything!"

Shinta's anger increases the more he heard them talking about what they did earlier. He throttled his fists in vengeance before charging towards the two girls, causing them to jerk their heads to the sound of his rapid footsteps. Shrieking, they stumbled out of the way, watching as he flew past them. Shinta yelps, trying to come to a screeching halt just inches from the edge of the dock, but his body was bent too far forward and he wound up toppling off and landing into the ocean below.

Missy and Foxx stood over the dock, staring down at the pile of bubbles emerging from the surface seconds before Shinta came up with a lobster sitting on his head. The oncoming evening air caused the ocean temperature to drop near freezing as the rookie Noble shivered to stay warm while coughing water out of his lungs.

"What was that all about!?" Missy yelps, "I almost thought we were gonna get mugged!"

"He isn't happy about something, that's for sure," Foxx mutters nervously, "Wha'cha think got his goat?" Shinta glares up at the two, his entire face twitching in anger as Missy looks over to Foxx rather scolding.

"I don't know, but if we're the reason he's upset, we should apologize and help him out." Missy turns around, about to say something when Shinta tore the lobster from his head and threw it into her face. The lobster bounces off and clamps its claws around her nose, causing her to scream in fright and pain while running around in circles, "EEEEEEEEEE!! GET IT OFF!! GET IT OFF!!"

"Missy, hold still!" Foxx panics, trying to catch her friend, "I can't help you if you keep running around like that!" Missy eventually scrambles down the docks towards the clinic with Foxx chasing after her. Shinta glares at the fleeing Divas before throwing his fists against the wall of the docks in anger.

* * *

Hayato sat in the living room of the houseboat, opening and closing a blue fan bearing the emblem of their squad on both sides. His eyes were closed as his cheek rested on his hand with his elbow resting on his knee. The door to the houseboat flies open as Tsuyoshi and Kenshin scramble into the room, panicked and hysterical.

"**Saionji-sama! It's an emergency!**" Kenshin cries.

"**Those Western Ouendan just stole Kikuchi-sama's chance of asserting his reliability!**" Tsuyoshi pants.

"**What's worse, he ran off before we could figure out what his intentions were!**"

Hayato snaps the fan shut and grips his hand around it, "**So...why did you two decide to come back here...**" he then began slapping the closed fan against Tsuyoshi and Kenshin's heads in aggravation, "**WHEN YOU SHOULD BE OUTSIDE LOOKING FOR HIM!!**"

"**WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! WE'RE SORRY SAIONJI-SAMA!!**" the two cried, grabbing their heads in pain. Hayato turns his back to them, throwing the fan open again and holding it a few inches from his mouth.

"**Honestly! I can't even take my mind off you two for a minute and you've already botched up your duties like a trail of ants separated by a fallen leaf!**"

"**With all due respect, Saionji-sama,**" Kenshin mutters, "**Even if we could sense where he is, it'd take us hours just to get there! Tokyo is a big city!**"

"**And with everyone calling on us every now and then, the chances of us ever taking a break long enough to find our own teammates is practically slim to none!**"Tsuyoshi complains,"**I can't even imagine how those other Ouendan were able to do this sort of thing so calmly!**"

"**What matters is getting people to realize they don't have to keep calling on the same Ouendan to pull them out of a jam! Why do you think Asahi has relied on us so much?**"

"**It's not going to matter if those Western Ouendan continue to stamp their names all over this city and sway people into relying on them more than us!**" Tsuyoshi said.

"**I'm well aware of that,**" Hayato said, "**Not everyone would rely on a bunch of dancing idiots to pull them out of a jam. And even if they could mimic our moves, Japan still won't fall for their attempts at shutting us down for good! That squad will eventually give up and stop pestering the Japanese Community into relying on them for anything other than entertainment!**"

* * *

Spin sneezes as he was heading back to the convertible with a bag of food, later that evening. He stops and rubs his nose, sniffling.

"Wow! I think someone just spoke behind my back," he mutters, placing the bag below the glove compartment of the front seat, "Nah, must be the air." He straightens up, "Sure is gettin' cold this time of the month. I'd better get back to Central before..." he stops when he notices a shadow stumbling towards him, shivering and wet.

He cocks an eyebrow as the shadow trips and falls into a spotlight shining from a lamppost, revealing Shinta flat on his side, his eyes squeeze shut and his face twitching from the cold.

Spin cringes, looking between the novice Noble and the convertible before heading over to the latter.

* * *

"Don't worry about him, Missy," Foxx said while sitting in the waiting room of the clinic, "I'm sure whatever he's upset about will eventually disappear overtime."

"He didn't have to throw that lobster at me!" Missy whined, poking the bandage on her nose, "If he'd just told us why he was upset, we would've done something to help him!"

"I think whatever we did pushed him beyond simple argument," Foxx sighs and leans onto her crossed knee, "I don't know, maybe we should think about why he was upset to begin with. I'm sure it was no big deal."

"No big deal! I am offended!" snaps a voice. Missy and Foxx jerk their heads towards the source of the voice to see two girls in red cheerleader outfits standing before them with their hands planted on their sides. On their chest and armband is the same shield-like emblem that represents the Noble Squad.

"Shinta-kun suppose to do part in asserting reliability and you bully from America snatch it from him!" snaps one of the cheerleaders, her hair orange, tied in two, unbraided pigtails. She also had a small, pink bunny hanging off the left side of her skirt.

"How're we supposed to know that!?" Missy snapped, standing up, "The doctor came to us and asked us to perform! No one even told us he was supposed to do the cheering around here!"

"Of course! That is because we are still trying to settle in!" the second girl complained, her hair silver with two curls hanging off both sides of her head, "But you Ouendan do not seem to care that this is the Noble territory, and all those who are not with the squad are banned from doing any cheering here! All you care about is making the world rely on you more than the other cheering squads on the planet!"

"What gave you that idea!?" Foxx snaps, standing up, "We're only doing what we were taught to do, help people get on with their lives without having to worry about obstacles getting in their way!"

"Exactly my point! You Ouendan think you are the only ones who know what they are doing, and thus, you try to make a name for yourself while putting the others to shame! Our leader will make sure you do not try and tarnish our tradition and our reputation!" Missy and Foxx were about to say something, but the two cheerleaders turned around and stormed out of the clinic, leaving them baffled and frustrated.

"What was that all about!?" Missy growled, "Do they honestly expect us to know what's going on around here!?"

"They probably think all organizations have the same spirit seeking abilities as the Ouendan," Foxx mutters, flopping back down in her chair, "I don't blame them for assuming we would've known how many Ouendan actually do their parts in Japan, and thinking we only care about our own agency..."

Missy looks down at Foxx, upset at first, but then worried. She sighs and flops back down in her seat, placing her elbows on her knees and resting her chin on her hands.

* * *

Shinta's face twitched before opening his eyes, finding himself laying in a twin-size bed of a dimly lit room. Despite being dry and having thick, black blankets covering him from the neck down, his body still shivered to the point where he felt nauseated, while his cheeks flushed a light red.

"Hey! You're awake, eh!?" calls a voice. Shinta snaps his head towards a bright light spilling into the square-shaped door at the far end of the room, finding Spin leaning against the wall with his arms and legs crossed, sporting a cocky grin.

"Pretty freaky, seein' you stumble around town at this time of night," he chuckles, "You was pretty messed up when I brought ya here; soakin' wet and burnin' on the forehead. I'd say you gotta fever of 102." Shinta's face twists in anger, "Don't know what happened to ya, but I'm sure a coupl'a days rest'll get you back on your feet in-" Shinta jerks his entire body away from Spin, cutting him off before he could finish. The BA-5 Agent stumbles back in bewilderment and shock.

"A forked path now stands between them and the truth," said a voice. Spin looks to the left to see Ryuta leaning against the wall with a neutral look on his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Spin asked.

"He saw the Divas perform to someone in Noble territory," Ryuta said, "Now everything that was rumors to us has become facts to them. As far as they're concerned at this point, you're nothing more than enemies to them."

"Enemies!? Over a misunderstanding!? That ain't right, dawg! There's gotta be someway of making them believe we ain't tryin' to destroy them!"

"As long as they keep ignoring you and following those rumors like blind bats, there's little chance you can get them to at least understand why most of Japan began relying on you as much as they do Ouendan."

"Did you try explaining it to them last time you ran into each other?"

"At that time, we were weary of their presence, unsure of how long they would last here before they decided to move somewhere else. We didn't exactly exchange stories, just stared at each other and moved on. And besides, even if we did try to explain why we didn't stop EBA from accepting Japan's cry for help, there was a slim chance they would actually believe it and stop thinking of you as zealots trying to make yourself known to more than just America."

Spin sighs a moan as he looks down at his hands sitting in his pockets.

* * *

The next morning, in Yunnami Inn, an old fashion Japanese Inn deep within Yuhi Town, J, second BA member of EBA with his orange pompadour and amber sunglasses, slips on his black coat and buttons it up.

"You go out for today?" asked an old woman in a purple kimono.

"Yep," J said excitedly, "Figured I go check up on Chieftain. Starr said he was staying overnight at the clinic."

"Ah, yes! Again, I sorry for the trouble Kaede-san caused you last week. Ever since she retire from wrestling and made living here, she always cause trouble. But I so glade your friend okay!"

"Hey, no need to worry. Stuff happens, ya know. Your daughter-in-law seemed a bit shaken by what happened, though. Said she was going to try and make up for her mistake by cleaning some central pillar."

The woman's face jerks into hysteria upon hearing what J said, "She do what!?"

* * *

"**Central Pillar Twist!**" Kaede shouts as she runs two cloths along the center of the pillar. Cracks started to form around the sides of the pillar from the pressure she applied to her polishing.

"**Kaede-san!**" the Mother-in-Law cries as she runs into the room, finding Kaede throttling the pillar and increasing the cracks, "**What're you doing!?**"

"**Hi there, Mother-in-Law!**"Kaede shouts, looking over to the mother-in-law as J shows up behind her,"**I know how important this pillar is, so I'm wiping it very firmly!**"

Kaede's strength accidentally snaps the pillar in half, sending the top half crashing onto the Mother-in-Law's head. The okami-in-training yelps in shock over her actions, "**Are you okay!?**"

"That's gonna leave a mark," J mutters, looking unfazed by what just happened.

The Mother-in-Law tries to contain her anger as she gives Kaede another stern look.

"**Kaede-san...**" she mutters, eyebrow twitching, "**As a young hostess... No, as a person, don't you have any self awareness!?**"

Kaede didn't seem to be paying attention as she runs to the son of the current okami, hugging him gently, "**Darling!**"

"**Come on, mother! You can trust Kaede!**" the husband said, placing his hand around Kaede.

"**Oh really?**" the Mother-in-Law muttered before pointing to an elderly man with messy, gray hair, wearing a green kimono and tan vest, "**Then I want Kaede-san to entertain sensei while he's here!**"

"**Whoa! The living national treasure, Seizan-sensei!**" the husband yelps in shock and awe. J and Kaede stare at the new arrival rather oblivious.

"A famous sculptor?" J asked.

"He synonymous for work on many piece of art," the Mother-in-Law said, addressing J, "To have him in our inn is honor we must cherish like fine glass." She then glares at Kaede sternly, "If Kaede-san cannot satisfy Seizan-sensei, she must separate from Kazuo, pack her bag and leave this inn!"

"**No way!**" Kaede shrieks in shock, understanding every word the Mother-in-Law said, "**Separate from my beloved darling!?**" she then begins to bend back, "O..." she places her hands on the ground beside her head, her face masked with fear and anxiety, "O..."

* * *

"Uso! They actually said that!?" complained Aoi, the youngest of the three female cheerleaders in the Ouen Squad. She and the other girls sat in the onsen with Missy and Foxx sitting at the far end of the spring. Missy was up to her chin in water, her pigtails tied to the top of her hair to keep from getting wet.

"I don't know what to do..." Missy mutters, "They were really angry, like they wanted us to know where they are at all times."

"You shouldn't feel bad about this," said Sayaka, the lead member of the Cheer Girls, "Even though they thought you accepted Kuroiwa-san's offer without knowing why Ouen can no longer respond in Asahi, it doesn't mean you should feel responsible."

"The way they talked to us begs to differ," Foxx grumbles, crossing her arms, "They don't bother asking us why we stole one of their people, they just flat accused us for humiliating them and declared they were going to chase us out."

Anna, the blond American member of the Cheer Girls, looks over to her two companions, "I say we have a talk with those members and explain the situation to them," she said, "Maybe then they'll understand and back off."

"I suppose you're right, Anna," Sayaka sighed, "Just sitting around and waiting for them to warm up doesn't seem to be doing much, especially since they have no clue just how limited they are to choices."

Just then...

_**OUENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!**_

The girls look towards the inn, almost startled by the call.

"WAI!! ACTION TIME!!" Aoi cheers, grabbing her towel and throwing it around her body as she stood up. Sayaka and Anna looked over to Foxx and Missy.

"Just leave everything to us," Sayaka said as she and Anna stood up and wrapped their towels around themselves, "That squad won't bother you anymore, I promise."

Foxx and Missy watch as the girls head off to the inn to change and perform their duties.

End Notes:

An "okami" is like a bellboy at a hotel, they serve and obey whatever order the customers gives them without question or complaint.


	5. Episode 5: To Kuroiwa’s Medical Clinic

Episode 5: To Kuroiwa's Medical Clinic We Go

The Mother-In-Law shoves a broom towards Kaede, "**Clean up the garden before sensei arrives here!**"

"**The garden!?**" Kaede yelps. She looks outside to find it littered with the fallen leaves of autumn, the pond shallow, and the trees in need of a trim. She shudders as she grips the broom to the point of snapping it, "**I can't fail! I gotta do this!**"

The Ouen Cheer Girls appear behind Kaede and shout "go" instead of "osu", which is how the male Ouendan were able to grab people's attention. The words hit Kaede's ear, causing her to turn from panicked to thriving determination, rushing out into the garden to begin clean-up.

_Nani shite darou konna hazu ja nai darou  
__Jitensha tachi kogi furi kitteiku  
__Ikite iku koto wa mada tsukame nai  
__Yoru ga asa ni kawaru you ni_

Kaede started by slowly sweeping the grass of all discolored leaves and junk while her husband, Kazuo, watched in the background. She soon began to pick up pace, going from just sweeping the grass to trimming the trees and refilling the pond. Kazuo roots in the background, encouraging her to keep it up.

_Utsumuite torinokosareta basho wo  
__Fukaku hotte miyou izumi ga nemuru hazu yo_

The Mother-In-Law soon arrives with Seizan close behind her, "**This is the very pride of our inn,**" she said, pulling the sliding doors open. Seizan stares in shock at what was on the other side of the door.

"**Th-this is!**" he shouts, staring at the beauty on the other side. Everything looked like spring had come early. Cherry blossoms rain throughout the garden as ponds were filled with fresh water and fish. Kaede sat on her hands and knees over a blanket, bowing to the new arrival.

"**Welcome,**" she said gracefully and humbly.

"**It's truly beautiful!**" he shouts, "**Surely, a garden Big Bang!**" he then mutters to himself,"**What a lovely young hostess!**"

"**There's more to come,**" the Mother-In-Law giggles, "**Now then, how about some tea?**"

"**I desire some delicacies for dinner.**" Seizan said happily.

"**Got it!**" Kaede calls out, "**I'll get you the best food money can buy!**"

She then rushes out of the inn and into the forest, coming to a stop seconds later. She's become aware of the fact that she has no clue what kind of taste Seizan had in Japense delicacies, "**WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! What'll I do!? I'll be kicked out for sure!**"

The Cheer Girls show up behind her, shouting "go" again and refueling her ambition. Fired up, she continues through the woods until she finds a bear wandering around. Her eyes lit up, thinking of wrestling him for food. Determined, she jumped for the bear, preparing to use her wrestling skills to knock it into submission.

_It's my rainy day, but I'll just go anyway  
__Mieru nara iku nomi darou_

The bear caught sight of Kaede rushing toward it and threw its paws up, stopping her in her tracks. The two went into a show of strength, trying to force one another to the ground. Growling in frustration, Kaede threw her leg under the bear, tripping it up and flinging it into the air. The bear yelps as it was being flung around, slammed on the ground and squeezed of air.

_Afureteru no magara nai no  
__Donna jikan ga kakatte mo_

Three minutes later, Kaede pushes the door open to Seizan's room, presenting a tray beside her.

"**I brought your meal,**" she said humbly. Seizan pulls the tray towards him and lifts the cover, his eyes wide with shock.

"**Th-this is!**" he gasps, seeing an array of wonderfully prepared vegetables practically fill up the bowl.

"**They're forest gifts I picked up from a bear,**" Kaede said, "**Garnished with seasonal vegetables.**"

"**Edible wild plants Big Bang!**" Seizan cries in delight, "**It's too delicious!**"

"**Delicious!**" the Mother-in-Law shouts with joy over the taste, "**Let's make this our selling point!**"

"**All right!**" Kaede shouts joyously.

Soon afterwards, the Mother-in-Law walks over to Kaede, holding a stack of logs, "**The bath is broken!**" she said, tossing the logs to Kaede, "**Heat it up with firewood!**"

Kaede shudders before frowning in determination, "**I must do it for darling's sake!**"

The Cheer Girls show up behind her, shouting "go" again and giving her another douse of burning ambition. Kaede immediately runs to fireplace to prepare the bath.

_Mirai to futari ga yawara kai kiji de  
__Tsutsumarete yuku wo kanjita  
__Sabishii toki kakurete naka nai de  
__Nuri kaete ageru nando demo itsudemo_

Kaede chops the log with her bare hands and throws them into the fire, using a large bamboo to blow heat into the boiler and increase the fire burning inside. She stops half the time to catch her breath and chop tough logs, but nonetheless keeps up her duties to please their current guest.

_It's your rainy day  
__But I'll just go anyway  
__Hontou wa mou kimatte irun darou  
__Tomara nai de akirame nai de  
__Kiri ga tachikomete ite mo_

Seizan pushes the flaps away from him as he enters the onsen, feeling peppy and excited, "**A quick bath.**"

"**Sensei likes hot baths, so burn the fire intensely!**" The Mother-in-Law demands.

"**Got it!**" Kaede shouts. She takes a deep breath and blows hard into the bamboo pipe, sending a gust of hot air into the boiler that caused the fire to increase immensely. Seizan sighs as he relaxes into the onsen.

"**This is extreme bliss!**" he shouts.

_Mitome aeta nara hibi wa utsukushii toori sugari no uso ni  
__Mou madowasaretaku wa nai_

"**You've done well, Kaede-san!**" the Mother-in-Law compliments, patting the out winded okami-in-training on the shoulders.

"**Mama,**" Kaede said happily.

"Kaede!" Kazuo roots cheerfully.

_It's my shiny day, so we'll just go anyway  
__Mieru nara anata mo sasotte  
__Tsunagatteku wa yorokobi da wa hora  
__Shikai wa sumiwatatteru_

"**Thank you for taking care of me,**" Seizan said as he prepares to leave, "**This is truly an excellent inn.**"

"**Thank you very much!**" Kaede and her Mother-in-Law said happily, "**Please come again.**" Seizan then hands Kaede a present.

"**In gratitude for the young hostess who entertained me, I offer you this.**"

Kaede takes the box and opens it up, pulling out a beautiful, purple vase with bears on either side for handles, a volcano for the mouth and a rainbow painted along the center.

"**Sensei!**" the Mother-in-Law gasps in shock, "**Thank you very much.**" She looks over to Kaede, shedding tears of joy, "**You did well, Kaede-san.**"

"**YES!!**" Kaede shouts as Kazuo pulls her hand into the air.

"**Champion!**" he shouts with joy.

* * *

Spin walks towards his quarters, carrying a tray of vegetable soup and a glass of water. He holds the badge towards the panel, causing the door to slide open, then heads inside, seeing Shinta still laying in bed, and still turned away from him. His lack of spiritual energy indicates that he hasn't been sleeping like he was supposed to during a fever, and his burning anger suggest he still wasn't enjoying his stay in central.

"Ya can't cold shoulder me forever," Spin smirks, pushing the tray towards the side of the bed, "C'mon, enjoy the hospitality. I'm sure you'd recover faster if you just-"

"Go away!" Shinta growled, curling his body. Spin's smirk drops to a cringe as he steps back some.

"Why you gotta be hatin' on me like that? I only want to help you get better."

"I not ask for your help! Noble would've taken care of me without you getting in way!"

Spin snorts and crosses his arms, "I may not be able to sense spirits as far as you can, but I know for a fact that if I hadn't done somethin' to get you out of the streets before the sky turned black, Jack Frost would've gotten to you before your friends did."

"Why you care all of sudden!? You don't like how we prepare for cheer and prefer to make people trust your method over ours! So why go out of way to help us!?"

Spin slips his hands into his pocket, grinning cockily, "That's what all cheerin' organizations do. They help those in need, even if they're from some rival company or such. It don't matter that most of us hates how others do their stuff, just so long as they understand why we do what we do and help whenever we can." He turns and heads for the door, "You shouldn't think of us as someone bad just 'cuz you saw somethin' you didn't like. You should take a moment to observe everythin' else before you let your thoughts tell you what's right." he then heads out, causing the door to slide shut behind him.

Shinta twists his head slightly after a few minutes, glancing towards the door, then the tray beside the bed. He soon turns onto his back and sits up, taking the soup and slowly eating it.

* * *

Meanwhile, at a moderate looking barber shop on the south-eastern corner of Yuhi the sound of random buzzing fills the immediate area. Moriyama, the shop owner with silky, black hair, and light mustache, sighs as he flips his electric shaver on and off. He wore a purple shirt with thin, black strips, black pants and white shoes.

"**We've got a lot of free time, huh, Misaki-chan?**" he mutters. His assistant, a blonde haired girl wearing a pink, long sleeve shirt, tight jeans and a red apron with a cat on the front, glares at him in annoyance.

"**The customers aren't coming because you prefer your electric shaver over other hair clippers!**" she complains, "**If you don't stop using that thing, you're going to put us out of business!**"

"**It's because I'm clumsy!**" Moriyama whines.

Soon the bell rings as the door opens. Moriyama turns to greet the newcomer, "**Welcome...**"

In walks a young man with blond, spiky hair, wearing a black coat over a white shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers.

"**This shop has a lot of free time,**" he says snidely, "**It moves me to tears.**"

Misaki beams at the man entering the shop, "**It's charisma beauty artist, Eagle Shinagawa!**"

"**Misaki-chan...**" Moriyama mutters, dumbstruck.

"**Why on earth did you come to this profitable shop?**" Misaki asked.

"**What the heck is your business?**" Moriyama asked, wearily.

"**It's simple really,**" Eagle said, "**I will take over this shop!**" he finishes by swinging his scissors around, turning Misaki's high ponytail into a stack of curls.

"**Dreamy!**" she swoons lovingly. Eagle points his comb towards Moriyama.

"**Get out of here!**" he orders. Moriyama explodes with envy.

"**I can do a whole lot better!**" he declares, "**So don't screw around with me!**"

Eagle points at Moriyama, "**Well then. Let us duel and see who is victorious in this battle of the haircuts.**" He said.

"Ku!" Moriyama mutters, staring at his razors in overwhelming stress, "O...O..." he then rears his head back and yells at the top of his lungs.

_**OUENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!**_

Down the row of mirrors sat three Ouen Squad members, Atsushi, Hajime, and Ittetsu, with white cloaks wrapped around their necks. Hearing Moriyama's scream for help, Hajime stands up, dropping his hat on the table while extending his hand towards the mirror, shouting "osu".

Two girls sat down in front of a mirror, looking towards Moriyama and Eagle, "**We want to feel pretty, please?**"

Moriyama grips his electric shaver, shaking in exasperation, "**I'm begging for your help, partner!**"

The three Ouen appear behind Moriyama and shout "osu" again, sending determination burning into his soul. Revved up, he runs over to the girls and joins Eagle in pampering their hair. Hajime lead the performance, his moves slow and few than his superior squad members.

_Kyandoru raito ga  
Garasu no piasu ni hajikete nijimu  
Omae kare no ude no naka odoru  
Haato bureiku saturday night  
Kanashii kyaroru ga show window de  
Gin no yuki ni kawatta yo_

The girls dipped their hairs back into a bowl of water, relaxed as Moriyama and Eagle began washing the oil and dandruff using soaps and a comb. Each minute, Moriyama stares at his electric shaver sitting next to him, almost sensing it begging for attention. He knew if he tried sticking it in the water, his customer would've had more than her hair fried to a crisp, so he struggles to ignore it.

Eventually, he could no longer stand leaving his prized possession out of reach and grabs it, throwing it into the bowl as he began a mad trimming barrage. Eagle stares in shock over the whole scenario, accidentally yanking his customer's head into the bowl and getting shampoo into her eyes.

_So silent night  
Doa nuketeku ore wo  
_

With the shampooing finished, Moriyama prepares for one of his special moves, the Flower Romantica. Swinging his electric shaver around like a rapier while holding a rose between his teeth, he began clipping his customer's hair as though he were plucking buds from a garden. He then throws the cloak off, blowing a small lock of hair from his shaver.

"**One cut complete!**" he exclaims. His customer glances into the mirror and screams with delight, seeing her hair turn into white bundles of roses.

_Tears in your heart  
Hoho nurashi miokutta hito_

"**Wow! It's like a heroine from a Shoujo manga!**" she squeals with delight.

Eagle's shock at what had just happened messes up his customer's hair, turning it into sloppy-looking curls and rolls.

"**What is this!?**" she screamed in horror after looking into the mirror.

Two more customers came in, male and in their prime, "**Please make the sexiest, manliest style for us!**" they demanded.

Moriyama stares at his shaver with more exasperation, "**I'm begging for your help, partner!**"

The Ouen appear behind Moriyama again, shouting "osu" and sending more determining fire into his soul. Reenergized, he runs off to help comply with his customer's wish.

_Oretachi tokai de daijina nanika wo nakushichimatta ne_

Moriyama calmly began trimming one of the men's hair, as did Eagle. The former was thinking of what best hairstyle to express the masculinity of his customer. After a minute, an idea jumps into his head, exciting him so much, he practically began swinging his shaver around, shaving and combing out as much hair as his idea desired.

Eagle, caught by surprise of Moriyama's battle cry and loud shaver, accidentally messes up his customer's hair, turning it into a large cotton ball.

_oh my julia oboeteru kai  
Oretachi miteta yume...  
Kaerou ze ano machikado e  
Heartbreak oh my my my my Julia_

Moriyama pulls off another one of his special techniques, the Magnum Storm. Spinning around in circles, he began the next step of his design, cutting and combing out his customer's hair. After a minute, he pulls the cloak off, blowing another lock of hair from his shaver.

"**Another cut complete!**" he says confidently. His customer looks into the mirror, gasping in shock over the design of his hair. It looked like a battleship setting sail.

"**Oh!! This is valiant!**" he shouts, giving Moriyama a thumbs-up.

Eagle manages to finish his customer's hair. Too much time spent staring at Moriyama accidentally shaved his hair into a large arrow.

"**I want my money back!**" he shouts after staring at his reflection in the mirror.

Another pair of customers sat down in front of Eagle and Moriyama, both female and beautiful looking, "**We're going to a wedding ceremony! Finish it up for the happy event!**"

Moriyama looks to his only friend once again, "**I'm begging for your help, partner!**"

Ouen appears behind him again, shouting "osu" and refueling his determination as he sets off to satisfy his customer.

_Manatasu no vacation  
Setsunai memory mune wo kogasu yo  
Kami no ribon hodoita ne_

As usual, the two took their time trimming and combing out their customers hair. Moriyama is deep in thought, wondering what design he would give his customer that would make her stand out from the crowd of bride's maids, grooms and family members. He starts to daydream, remembering a wedding he saw on TV that involved spring themes such as cherry blossoms, swans and flowers. Getting lost in his daydream, his ambition grows, as does the speed of his electric shaver, cutting and combing hair so fast, it practically stood up on its own. Eagle could do nothing but watch, his reaction causing his customer's hair to puff out and snag in his comb and scissors.

_My destiny  
Ore yarinaoshitai  
Forever you  
Mou dare mo ai senai kara_

Moriyama performs another one of his special techniques; The First Storm of Spring. He starts dancing around his customers in the most graceful form of ballet ever seen, each time he dipped, he would clip, comb and smooth a portion of his customer's hair.

_Saigo no akari wo keshitara owaru ne  
Futari no teenage dream_

The cloak is pulled off his customer as she glances into the mirror, almost swooning at the sight of a beautiful swan covered in cherry blossoms and wondrous feathers sitting on her head.

"Kya!" she shouts with joy, "**Lovely! This is perfect for the upcoming ceremony!**"

Meanwhile, Eagle's customer wound up with a poor copy of the bird covering her bald head.

"**Horrible!**" she cries in shock and anger after looking at her reflection in the mirror.

More customers began pouring in as the last round of the duel goes underway. A final shout of "osu" from the three Ouen piles more kindle in Moriyama's fire as he sets off to kick Eagle out of his shop.

_Oh my julia rasuto dansu wa  
Hitori ja odorenai  
Mou ichido mune ni kaere yo  
Heartbreak oh my my my my Julia_

"**And the winner is Moriyama!**" Misaki shouts as she presents her hand over to said winner.

"**Shit!**" Eagle growls in anger and humiliation, "**As revenge,**" he brings his scissors out and snips them, "**I'll cut off that forelock!**"

Eagle charges towards Moriyama, shouting as he did. The owner calmly arms his electric razor and comes at him. A flash of scissor and blades sound as the two cross paths, their movements hard to predict. However, after the two separated from each other, Eagle's hair scatters to the pavement outside the shop, leaving nothing but the Japanese word for "Loser" written on his shaved head.

"Kya! **Manager, you're amazing!**" Misaki squeals in delight, "**Today is the birth of charisma!**"

"**For love, let it be my shaver,**" Moriyama said, humbly bringing his electric shaver up. Misaki giggles as she walks over and pecks him on the cheek.

"**No self-confidence, huh?**" she asks a now blushing Moriyama, who laughs sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

* * *

"Is this necessary?" Chieftain grumbles as he lays in bed deep within the Asahi clinic. Morris and Derek stood on his left while Ittetsu and Atsushi stood on his right, stone-faced with their fists behind their backs.

"Aw, no need to be bashful, Chief," Morris chuckles, "They just wanna check up on you and see if you're okay."

"Oh sure, take pity on 'poor ol' me' just because I got wrestled by an innkeeper. And where are the other three that were supposed to be coming here?"

"Tanaka-sama say he on way here," Ittetsu said, "Not sure about other."

"So you say," Chieftain growls, sinking further under the covers, "I'll tell you what those other two're doin'! They're rolling on the floor, laughing like hyenas at my misery, that's what they're doin'!"

"I'm sure they're feeling 'somewhat' sorry for what those blue Ouendan did to you," Derek mutters nervously, "Even though you've been rather bitchy about the stuff they do to kill boredom while waiting for the person in distress to scream for their help."

"Exaggerating on the word 'somewhat', are we? That's a fine way of cheering me up. I bet they're too busy bustin' their guts to send a 'Get Well' card, or flowers for that matter!" Chieftain rears his head back as he shouts, "GO AHEAD AND HARASS ME ALL YOU WANT! YOU AIN'T GETTIN' NOTHING OUTTA ME, YA HEAR!?"

Both followers look to each other before sneaking out of the room in a tip-toe fashion.

* * *

Hajime heads towards the bridge connecting Yuhi with Asahi, thinking about checking up on Chieftain like the rest of EBA was. Halfway across the bridge, he noticed J stop near the center and pull out his communicator to speak into. The BA-2 Agent cringes as he waves his hand up and down in hesitation.

"W-wait a minute! You're going too fast!" he yelps. He pauses for a minute before dropping his shoulders in annoyance, "You say what now!?"

In the infirmary of EBA Central, a man wearing an Italian outfit presses his back against the door as random pounding tries to shove him off. He spoke into the communicator, his Italian-accented voice high pitched and stuttering.

"It's almost dawn in America and these two want to get breakfast started before it's too late!" he whines, "But they both came down with a cold earlier this afternoon! Unless I find someone who could fill in for them, they won't listen to my suggestions!"

"Leo! You can't do this to me!" cries an Asian-accented voice.

"Our friends need to be fed!" shouts a French-accented voice, "If you don't let me out, they will starve!"

"No way, French-Bread! We don't need you spreading your illness around!"

"Oh!? And you think you're in a position to be making meals when you can't even hold your own!?"

"I'm perfectly fine! It's you who cannot take care of everyone in the condition your in!"

"Ho-ho! If you're so fine, why do you sound like you have corks up your nose?"

"Will you two knock it off!?" Leo screams, "I don't know which life-or-death situation is worse, you two, or the fact that if I don't find someone who can cook a decent meal, everyone's gonna run off and get take out! You know how much I hate seeing leftovers from outside restaurants in the fridge!"

"W...How'm I gonna find someone out here?" J mutters nervously, "I barely know anyone who would-" The communicator jumps out of his hand before he had a chance to finish. J looks beside him to see Hajime put the speaking device to his ear.

"Hey, Leo," he spoke, "If you don't mind waiting a few hours, I could whip up something."

"I...Is that you, Senor Tanaka!?" Leo cries from the other line, "Oh! Thank you! You're a lifesaver!"

"Haji? Are you sure you wanna do this?" J asks as Hajime turns the communicator off and tosses it back to him.

"Sure, why not? I could use a little break from saving people from the doom and gloom of everyday stress. And besides, I'm sure Ryuta and Spin could use a little extra help running Central for a while." He then turns around and heads back into Yuhi before J could say anything.


	6. Episode 6: The Eye of the Truth

Episode 6: The Eye of the Truth

_It came as a shock the plan Noble made of moving to Tokyo to restart their business. The bleak response of their original hometown, Okinawa, was doing little to give them an edge; a reason to continue what they were doing. Shinta had just come onboard, after encountering Hayato in at his school gym and learning about his profession, only to find out, three months later, that they were packing up and moving away._

_He had barely gotten used to the atmosphere of the current number of Noble Ouendan, let alone put up with the brutal training they endured to keep up their physique and stamina. Having to move to Tokyo on such short notice left him more than a little concerned about his place in the squad._

_"**Why Tokyo?**__" he asked as they were sailing their houseboat through the ocean towards Tokyo, "__**What's so special about it that we have to sail three days just to get there?**"_

_"**There's a lot of tension in Tokyo,**" Hayato said, standing at the front of the deck with his arms crossed, "**Tension that may require a helping hand from a squadron willing to step up and accomplish the task. This will be the starting point of our goal in bringing happiness to the world.**"_

_"**What about the Ouendan residing there? With them still around, Tokyo would just think of us as a second thought rather than an immediate reliability.**"_

_"**Which is where the fight for trust comes in,**__" Kaoru said, standing beside Shinta with his arms crossed as well, "__**The people in Tokyo will rely on anyone with enough encouraging spirit to help them deal with their problems. By taking advantage of their lack of observation, we will encounter the person in need before the Ouendan even becomes aware of the problems, assert our reliability, and convince them to seek us for aide.**"_

_"**And what better way to start than that small town on the other side of Yuhi River,**__" Hayato said, "__**The Ouendan we'll be dealing with live on the western outskirts of Yuhi Town. Even their most powerful members can't make it to a person's growing distress in less than an hour, which is another advantage we'll gladly welcome with open arms. They will have no choice but to forfeit the town to us and maintain what little reliability they have left on the town they settled into.**"_

_Shinta looks between his two superiors in slight hesitation. They haven't met the Ouendan living in Tokyo, yet they seem confident they can create a buzz through their fast reaction alone._

* * *

_A few days have passed since they settled into Asahi Town. Despite acknowledging the presence of a new Ouendan, the veterans are doing little to strengthen their hold on Yuhi Town. This bothered Shinta, as he believed any rival trifling on one's settlement would immediately try to chase them out by any means necessary. These Ouendan appear to be doing nothing but go about their business like it was normal._

_He had heard rumors that another Ouendan, from America, had started prancing around Tokyo, taking the calls meant for the originals to handle without the slightest bit of worry who would intervene and stop them. And it seems this has been going on for nearly four years, adding to the confusion of how Ouen was ever able to stay in business._

_Noble believed these "Western Ouendan" had been stealing behind Ouen's back, using any means necessary to shove them out of business. This brought a new kind of fear into the squad; fear that the American squad would eventually confront them and pull the same stunt that's slowly eating Ouen out of their reputation. Shinta wanted to believe that to be true, but being new to the squad, he was still shaky on the thought. Only way he'll join this bandwagon is if he catches sight of the Western Ouendan and see if they were really as sleazy as Noble is leading themselves to believe._

* * *

_Shinta jogs to Yuhi Town, sensing the Western Ouendan camping out there. Not long after reaching the bridge connecting the two towns, he encountered two strange men in black suits staring down at the Yuhi bank. Following their gaze, he catches sight of a large cowboy, wearing almost the same outfit as the two on the bridge, maligning the Ouen chief and calling the entire squadron lazy and unprepared._

_The chief, clearly offended by the remarks, challenged the man to deal with the sumo's situation and prove just how great he was. Shinta watches with increased anger as the tall cowboy struts an imitation of the Ouendan performance, his spirit literally burning with more pride than realization at how stiff he was strutting his moves. He was now beginning to understand why these Western Ouendan were stealing jobs behind Ouen's back; they can't tolerate squadrons who don't respond like they do._

_Angered by the sight, he prepares to leave when he sensed someone walking towards him. He whips around to see another person dressed in the same outfit, sauntering towards him. This one was different from the others, he wasn't acting at all apprehensive or annoyed by everything around him. Even when Kaoru knocked the tall cowboy around, this Ouendan did nothing but stare in curiosity and positive thought. What's even more confusing is his friendship with the Ouen Squad. Both the rookie and leader paid more attention to Noble then they did the Western Ouendan. This must be his way of bypassing their security and taking their jobs from them._

_Shinta didn't have time to further ponder on this thought as he sensed a problem brewing in the countryside of Asahi Town. A doctor had just moved in and he's having problems complying with the demands of his patients. This is his moment to shine, his moment to prove his worth to the citizens of Asahi. But by the time he, Tsuyoshi and Kenshin arrived at the clinic and pushed their way past the crowd, his chance of asserting his dependency shattered, like fine glass, at the presence of the Western Ouendan's female division._

_They showed up out of nowhere, didn't ask who was responsible for this side of Tokyo, and deliberately began encouraging the doctor to prove his worth on this countryside. This was the last straw for him. Without waiting for the girls to finish, he bails out of the crowd and rushes back to the docks to warn Hayato of the situation. The moment he got to the docks, however, he saw two of the female Western Ouendan gazing at the slowly setting sun. The sight of them boiled his anger to the point where he stopped thinking and charged at them, intent on making them pay for ruining his moment of dependency._

_The split second they caught sight of his wild stampede, they stumbled out of the way, sending him flying towards the docks. Shinta tries to stop, but his velocity was too great and he went tumbling down towards the ocean below._

Shinta yelps as he stumbles to a sitting position with his hands propped behind him. He blinks, remembering where he was, sitting on the bed of one of EBA's quarters, and how he got here. The room he was left in was dark due to the blinds blocking out the sun and hiding any indication on how long he had been asleep. The nausea and flush he felt on his chest and cheeks had disappeared, suggesting his fever had finally gone down.

Glancing around the room some more, he noticed a black jacket and pants spilled across the foot of the bed he rested in; a gray object sticking out of it. Curious, he reaches over and pulls it out, causing it to flip open as he lifted it up. It was some kind of license with BA-5 printed on top and Spin's picture below it. On the bottom flap is a golden badge shaped like a shield with leaves around both sides, a star in the center and the words "E.B.A. Central" etched along the bottom. Shinta stares at the wallet for a while, thinking back to what Spin mentioned earlier about why he offered to nurse him back to health rather than leave him in the streets to freeze.

_That's what all cheerin' organizations do, _Spin's voice rang in Shinta's mind,_ They help those in need, even if they're from some rival company._

Help those in need? After what happened between Chieftain and the conflict that dragged him to this point? It was hard to even think about such a diabolical squadron helping out their rivals only to stab them in the back when such disasters like the meteor and alien invasions are over with. This is just another one of their plots to smear their color over all of Japan until there's nothing left for either Ouendan to gain reliability from. Angered by this thought, Shinta grips the badge to the point of bending it in half before thrusting it towards the panel near the door.

The moment the badge hits a sensor panel below the keypad, a chorus of chimes signaled the door to fly open, letting in some much needed, artificial light. Shinta blinks in surprise before jumping out of bed and rushing out the door, seeing two hallways leading to areas he wasn't familiar with. Compressing his lips in hesitation, the Noble rookie heads down the left hallway, looking around before spotting an open door leading to a forest-like garden. Assuming it led back to some part of Japan, Shinta ran through the door only to have his foot fall through something wet, taking him down with it.

His body didn't touch bottom, causing the water to go over his head in the split second that he realized what he was falling into. Gargling, he claws through the water until his head broke through the surface, coughing and gasping for air.

After regaining his senses, Shinta turns towards the door to find it standing above the middle of a wide pond, and nothing holding it up. His eyes widen in shock as he swam towards the door, trying to feel around for the walls only to have his hands touch nothing but thin air and water.

Not long after realizing he was still trapped in Central, he heard the sound of fighting drawing towards the banks near the pond. Panicked, he swam behind the door, peaking out the corner to see Spin and Ryuta shuffling through the area. Spin threw punches and kicks while Ryuta effortless dodges them. Though their expressions were mixed; the offense grinning cockily while the defense barely grimaced, their spirits revealed both were enjoying this strange form of enrichment play.

Studying Spin further, Shinta's shocked expression increases, realizing the BA-5 Agent now wore the exact same outfit as the Ouen Squad, seeming to explain why his original outfit was left in his room. The Noble rookie's face twitches in more overwhelming confusion, wondering which side this Agent is really on. Before he could think further on this intimidating phenomenon, the door he hid behind slides shut and vanishes, causing him to fall backwards into the pond.

Upon hearing a startled yelp and a splash, Ryuta eyes the pond in suspicion, accidentally dropping his guard.

"Left yourself wide open, Ryu!" Spin shouts as he throws a roundhouse. Ryuta jerks his attention back to the BA-5 Agent before leaping back, barely missing the kick by an inch. He slaps his hands on the ground doing a back flip and pushes off them, landing on his feet while skidding into the dark forest.

Spin snickers cockily, about to give chase when he stops and looks behind him, "Wow! Somthin' smells good!" he then turns around and follows the trail of the aroma, abandoning his original plot to hunt down Ryuta.

* * *

Shinta scrambles through the dark forest, panicked and overwhelmed. He tries to find a way out of the nightmare he fell into, but no matter how far he ran, he couldn't find end to it. Just as he was about to enter a pathway through the forest, he saw Ryuta walking along it and ducks behind a nearby bush, watching as the Ouen leader stops a few feet from him and looks around.

"He didn't get lost, did he?" Ryuta mutters to himself. He then heard leaves rustling and looks towards the source to see Aoi leap out and run to the other side of the path, giggling with excitement. Before he could ask, the young Cheer Girl turns and sticks the base of her index finger in front of her teeth.

"Shhhhhhhhhh!" she hisses, "Don't tell them I'm here!" she then glances to where she ran from and jumps behind a tree, giggling as she places her fists below her chin.

Ryuta just stared at the scene, completely dumbfounded. Shinta, seeing this as an opportunity to get away from them, turns to crawl off only to see several eyes stare at him from the shadows of a tree.

"DOGPILE ON MS. KANDA!!" shouts a quintuplet of voices, followed by a startled yell. Ryuta and Aoi turn to the source to see Shinta come flying out of the bush and land flat on his face with Lava, the husky, standing on top of him while the rest just about crowded around him.

Lava cocks her head to one side after the commotion came to a halt, "Hey! You're not Ms. Kanda!" Shinta snapped his head towards her, more befuddled than panicked by the sound of his apprehender.

"Who is he then?" Mecho, the Shiba Inu asked as he began sniffing Shinta's neck.

"He looks like an Ouendan," Sabin, the Shih Tzu barks, pawing Shinta's right glove. Diablo, the golden retriever, began sniffing the other side of his neck.

"Smells like one too!" she yips. The rest of the dogs began sniffing around the rookie Noble, their twitching nose and whiskered hairs tickling parts of his body. Shinta tries to ignore the sensation, but ends up laughing out of instinct, wiggling to push the dogs away from him.

Suddenly, the five dogs stop sniffing him and turn their nose towards the path that Ryuta had come from. Vixie, the Yorkie, was the first to speak up.

"Oh boy! Lunch time!" she yips as she runs off towards the source of the smell. The rest yipped and cheered as they ran off after her, leaving the three Ouendan to watch. Aoi then threw her hands into the air.

"Yay! I'm starving!" she cheers as she runs off after the dogs. Shinta stares at the running figures before snapping his head towards Ryuta, seeing him return the glance. He still had that same frown as the last time they made eye contact, only this time, he didn't seem at all suspicious or weary of the presence of a rival squad member. The leader eventually turns and follows the rest of the immediate party away from Shinta.

The rookie Noble continues to lay on the ground a few minutes before getting up and running off after the others, stopping behind a tree once he reached the clearing. Peaking around the side, he saw a large blanket cover 5ft of the grassy plains near the pond, and an assortment of Japanese bento, rice donuts, and a blue cooler beside them.

Spin and Hajime were already sitting at the picnic when the others arrived.

"Lunch is served!" Spin laughs as the dogs crowded around some of the meat-filled bento.

"Wow! A picnic!" Lava yips, "This is great!"

"Yeah!" Sabin howls, "This' the only time I don't mind eating on the floor."

Shinta watches as the small group began eating and chatting among themselves, barely aware of what he had seen since he first stumbled into this room. Not a single one of the Ouen members questioned Spin's actions, nor did they act suspicious around his behavior. It was as if they trusted him without conscience.

"Oh, hey!" Spin said, looking over to Hajime, "How's Chief? I heard he was messed up when Ryu went to pick him up."

"Knowing him, he's probably ranting over what happened last week," Hajime huffs before taking a piece of broccoli between his chopsticks and sticking it into his mouth.

"I say he deserved it," Aoi snorts, munching on a rice ball, "Going around and acting like he can change the way we work our business. I hope what Noble did would knock some sense into him about how things work in our squad."

"That's so mean, Ms. Kanda!" Vixie whines, "Mr. Chieftain is in pain after what happened last week. Don't you feel the least bit sorry for him?"

"No offense, but I'm gonna hafta side with Aoi here," Spin chuckles, "Out of all of us in EBA, Chief's the only one who can hardly tolerate goofing off as a form of tradition. Even if it was his shtick, it tends to lead us into a lot of trouble, especially with what happened three weeks ago when he picked an argument with Kai right in front one of them new Ouendan."

Shinta's furrowed eyebrows tighten as he listens into the conversation. Not only is Ouen treating him like a friend, he's actually criticizing the personalities of his own teammates. It's like he doesn't care what his responsibilities are as long as there's someone around for him to hang out with. Could this be how he was able to get his hands on half of Ouen's territory without them doing anything to stop him?

He wanted to confront Ouen and ask them about the situation. But with Spin in earshot of the conversation, he was afraid the EBA rookie would do something to shut him up. His best chance of getting any information was to wait until Ouen is by themselves before stepping out. Unfortunately, having not eaten since last night, Shinta's stomach disagreed with the idea, inadvertently growling loud enough to startle him.

Hajime stops eating after hearing the loud growl and turns his head towards the forest. Spin notices and follows his glance, barely managing to catch Shinta duck behind the tree while grabbing his stomach.

"Hey! Look who just showed up!" Spin shouts, grabbing everyone else's attention as they turned towards the forest, "How ya feelin'!?"

Shinta compresses his lips as he nervously eyes the picnic on the other side of the tree he hid behind, "O...okay, I guess..."

"Well, c'mon down here!" Spin waves, "There's plenty for everyone!" Shinta was reluctant at first; but after a minute emerges from behind the tree and walks towards the picnic, sitting next to Hajime as he picks up one of the untouched bento and begins nibbling on a sliced piece of salmon.

Sabin licks his bento before barking and flipping onto his back, wiggling his lower body side to side, "Wow! That was some killer meat you made!" Shinta jerks his head towards him in shock as Lava mimics her small companion, twisting her head slightly as she pants in satisfaction.

"Oh yes! Truly badass!" she barks, gaining another shocked glance from Shinta. Spin laughs and threw his arm around Hajime's shoulder.

"Hell yeah! Compliments to the chef!" he said, rubbing Hajime's shoulder.

"Compliments!?" Shinta exclaimed, snapping his head towards Spin, "They just insult his cooking!"

The entire picnic falls silent as everyone stares at Shinta in a way that made him feel overwhelmingly uncomfortable. Mecho sticks his snout a few inches from the rookie's face, more curious than he anatomically looks.

"Why would you say that? It's an urban form of appreciation!" he yips.

"Urban appreciation?" Shinta mutters nervously. Vixie jumps onto Mecho's back, placing her paws on his head.

"Wait a minute! You mean you don't know a thing about urban slang?" she asks.

"I'm surprised he doesn't," Hajime said, sounding more surprised than he looks, "I figured his leader would've at least mentioned the Urban Dictionary after stumbling upon that website a couple weeks ago and reading the whole thing like a comic book."

Shinta stares at Hajime, feeling even more confused by what was going on around him. He then stares down at what's left of his bento, wondering just how much the Ouen Squad knew about American culture, and if he should be doing the same just to maintain the trust status of the squad he joined.

* * *

A moderate-looking mansion sits on a hill in the north-east sector of Asahi Town. Inside, Christina Kamogawa, an old romance novelist, with messy, dirty blonde curls, wearing a pink, overall dress with a heart in the center, stares at her laptop with her hands dangling over the keyboard. She had a stressed out look on her face as her word program sits on her screen with only two sentences written on it; "Struck by Love" and "Christina Kamogawa" sitting below it.

Her deadline is nearing its two-day mark and she's been stuck in front of her laptop for days, trying to come up with more than just the title of her story. If she doesn't finish soon, her future could be in jeopardy.

_I can't write..._ she mutters in frustration, continuing to do nothing but stare at the title and her name. She then slams her head on her desk in more frustration, "**I can't write another line!**"

She grabs her head and shakes it in exasperation, "**Which mean, being confide in this room isn't enough!**" She spills tears of agony as she stares back at the laptop a third time, "**Love! I don't have love!**"

As she continues to vent about her uninvited writer's block, dawn suddenly rises over the hill she lives on, cutting her deadline from two days to one. Staring at her calendar in horrified shock, Christina immediately flops down in her chair and starts typing on her computer like mad, staring helplessly as everything she wrote came up as the kanji for "cheer squad" on her screen.

"O..." she stutters, shaking nervously, "O..." finally, she threw her hands on her head and screams at the top of her lungs.

_**OUENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!**_

Christina throws her elbows on her desk, about to tear her hair out when she heard voices outside her window.

"So, what's on the agenda today, J?" asked a voice.

"Hmm, I don't know," said another, "Maybe if we wander around, we might find something interesting."

Christina rushes over to her window and stares out it, seeing Morris, J and Derek pass by the hill, chatting among themselves. She screams in joy as steam shot out of her nose.

"Wah! **Is that!?**" she yells. Not wasting a moment, she makes a run for her door, hoping to catch up to the EBA trio before they left her area.

* * *

"**Saionji-sama should we be doing this?**" Tsuyoshi asks as he, Hayato and Kenshin stood at the bottom of the hill leading to the tall mansion on top, "**We should be focusing on finding Kikuchi-sama.**"

"**That's right,**" Kenshin said, "**Last we checked, he was somewhere in America. Doesn't that make you a little bit worried?**"

"**I only know one squadron who would show up and take Shinta halfway across the sea,**" Hayato said, "**I'm sure, whatever reason they have for keeping him there, he wouldn't buy into it so easily. Once we're done here, we'll question that oversized Western Ouendan and make him tell us-**" He barely had a chance to finish when Christina rushes down the hill and away from the three Nobles, holding her skirt up part way to avoid stepping on it in her haste.

"**Hey you! Stop!**" she screamed. The three stood there and stared at her with dumbstruck looks on their faces.

"**This' the first time I've been to this sector...**" Tsuyoshi mutters, pointing towards the fleeing author, "**But...isn't she supposed to be the person we're encouraging?**"

"**She's fast for an old lady,**" Kenshin mutters. Hayato continues to stare in dumbstruck shock before snapping back to his senses and rushing off after her. The two Noble cohorts quickly follow after him.

* * *

"J," Morris said, looking behind him, "I'm not sure you're aware of this, but there's an old lady running towards us."

J looks over to Morris, then where he glanced to see Christina practically appear in front of him; her face wide with excitement as she looks at all three of them.

"**Black suits! Sunglasses!**" she listed as she stares at everything covering the three Agents. She then threw her hands into J's pocket and pulls out a microphone, her eyes literally sparkling upon seeing its silver design, "**Wireless microphone! It is you! The Western Ouendan who use song and dance to inspire many people!**"

The three look to each other before Christina grabs J's hands and holds them up, "**So dreamy! You must help me write my next novel!**"

Again, the three look towards each other before J turns his attention back to Christina.

"Oh, well in that ca-"

"I object!" shouts an angered voice from behind Christina. Instantaneously, Hayato appears in her place, shoving his face into J's and almost forcing him back, "You sleazy, backstabbing cowboys! You don't think I was prepared for this!?"

"I don't know what you're-" J retorts before Hayato grabs his necktie and pulls him further towards his face.

"Don't give me that, Elvis! You've already splattered your names all over Yuhi Town and I'm not about to stand here and let you do the same in this town, especially after what your female squad did to one of our members!"

"What the Divas did?" J nearly chokes from the increased grip of his necktie. Morris and Derek glance towards each other before BA-4 looks back over to J.

"Now that you mentioned it," he began, "The girls were rather intimidated after they helped that doctor settle into this town. Maybe this has something to do with it."

"Well, if that's the case," Morris mutters with a shrug, "Maybe we should just leave and-"

"USOOOOOOOOOO!!" Chirstina shrieks, shoving Hayato to the ground and grabbing J by his coat, shaking him in desperation, "**Please don't leave****! I don't want these amateurs inspiring me to write my next story!**"

"Sh-shirouto!?" Hayato squeaks, feeling overwhelmingly betrayed by the very citizen he was supposed to help out.

Christina lets go of J's shirt and sways back and forth, holding her folded hands to one side of her cheek, "**I need an Ouendan with passion, love, and charms!**" J readjusts his necktie as she continues, "**The only ones who can accomplish that are the Western Ouendan! It must be a gift from heaven that you three showed up when you did!**"

The Agents look to each other a third time as Christina turns around and points to her mansion on the hill, "**Hurry! I must finish my story before the deadline, or I may never be able to write again!**" she then marches off for where she pointed while the Agents look to her, then Hayato, who continues to sit on the ground, dumbstruck and shocked at his sudden rejection, before shrugging.

"Better luck next time?" they said before heading off after Christina. Tsuyoshi and Kenshin rush over to Hayato, panicked and worried.

"**Saionji-sama! Is everything alright!?**" Tsuyoshi asked.

"**We just saw those Western Ouendan walk off after our target! What happened!?**" Kenshin exclaims.

"**She...she rejected us...**" Hayato squeaks, "**She just threw us to the side and accepted those Ouendan like they were some important icon to her...**"

"**And...you're not happy about it?**" Tsuyoshi mutters.

"**OF COURSE I'M NOT HAPPY, YOU IDIOT!**" Hayato roars, glaring at his bald follower, "**WE CAME THIS FAR TO BRINGING ASAHI INTO TRUSTING US AND THOSE OUTSIDERS TARNISHED OUR HARD WORK LIKE IT WAS NOTHING TO THEM!**"

"**What do you think we should do about it then?**" Kenshin yelps after hearing his leader shout in anger, "**At the rate this is going, we'll be back out at sea looking for someplace else to set up our business!**"

"**Not if I have anything to say about it...**" Hayato growls before standing up and marching off back towards the hill.

* * *

"Are you two still holed up on what happened the other day?" Starr asked as she, Foxx and Missy walked through Yuhi town. The two backup Divas had depressed looks on their faces, focusing on nothing but their own two feet moving them along, "Sayaka said she and Anna were going to have a word with our new rivals and settle this misunderstanding. You should be peppier than this."

"It's just..." Missy mutters, "I can't stop thinking about the trouble we caused them just because we obliviously accepted Mr. Kuroiwa's cry for help. Do you think things would've been different if we had arrived just a few hours before those Noble guys showed up?"

"It can't be helped," Foxx said, "What's done is done. All that's left is to hope that they don't start coming to us, looking for vengeance."

As if on cue, two familiar faces stood in the Divas path, followed by a third unfamiliar face in the middle. This third Cheer Girl had short, pink hair pulled back by a white headband and appears to be the leader of the female Noble Squad.

"**That's them, Rin-chan!**" Honoka Kawai, the Cheer Girl with orange hair exclaims, pointing to the Divas in anger, "**That's the Ouendan who have been waltzing around Asahi like it was their home!**"

The Divas backed away as Reika Minazuki, the second Cheer Girl with silver hair, plants her hands on her side, "**As usual, they refused to listen to our warnings, and have, once again raised their flags on another sector of Asahi.**"

"What!? Oh, c'mon!" Foxx exclaims, "It's bad enough that you're blaming us for not knowing you didn't want rivals running amuck in your territory! Now you're assuming we don't care and would rather chase you out of town instead of figuring out what our best course of action is!?"

"Calm it, Foxx," Starr said, waving her hand towards her silver haired companion, "If you lose any more of your temper, they're just going to see it as another reason to think we're too prideful to understand other cultures of cheering."

"Saionji-sama is already dealing with those other Ouendan who stole our targets," Rin said before planting her hands on her sides, "We can make these vixens pay for what they did to us and the other squad living in Tokyo. Once they learn why they should never take things that don't belong to them, they will stop harassing the Japanese Community and respect those who work hard to maintain its trust!"

The two cohorts nod, about to move closer to the Divas when they saw two different hands appear in front of them, acting as barricades to keep them back. The Noble Cheer Girls look to the sides to see Sayaka and Anna standing in front of the Divas, staring back at them with defying looks on their faces.

"Rin Shirosaki, was it?" Sayaka began, addressing the pink-haired Cheer Girl in the center, "I must ask that you refrain from punishing the Divas over an accidental misunderstanding."

"Accidental misunderstanding!?" Reika exclaims, "Are you blind!?" she points at the Divas, "They did not come to Japan to sightsee! They are trying to shut us down by making the Community trust them over the Ouendan!"

"You don't think we know that?" Anna snorts, "They didn't start responding to Japan's cry for help out of spite and pride. We allowed them to help out. Just because you showed up and took refuge in Asahi Town doesn't mean the people there'll automatically start assuming you're the only ones that can save them."

"You can either take your complaints to our leader, or deal with us," Sayaka said, "Either way, we won't stand here and let you punish EBA for something they weren't even aware of until this moment."

"This isn't your business," Rin said, "Nor do you have any reason to defend them for something that is our responsibility."

"Then we'll make it our business," Sayaka said, "EBA is our ally, and we'll do whatever we can to keep them from being wrongfully harmed."

"Ally?" Rin mutters, "If they were your allies, why do they treat you like irresponsible children who should obey their rules instead of letting us do what we want?"

"Just because Chieftain doesn't like our method of response doesn't mean he'll go out of his way to make us listen to his every beck and call!" Anna said, "If you'd just take a moment to survey EBA instead of blindly assuming what everyone else says, we wouldn't be having this argument!"

"Whether or not this EBA is your responsibility means nothing to Noble unless our leader says otherwise!" Rin said, "And from the way things are standing, he won't be changing his mind about them anytime soon." She then turns around, "Come on, girls. We're leaving."

Honoka and Reika glare at their rivals some more before turning around and following Rin down the street. The Divas furrow their eyebrows as Missy looks over to Sayaka.

"What's gonna happen now?" She mutters nervously. Sayaka sighs and lowers her head a bit.

"The only thing I suggest is to stay on this side of town," she said, "At least until we figure out a way to loosen their tenseness and make them understand the truth behind all those rumors spreading around Japan."

"After what happened two days ago, I don't think they would understand anymore than you would," Starr said, "They're probably gonna stick to the belief that we want organizations to run their methods our way rather than what they think is best."

"There's still a chance we could get them to stop jumping to conclusions," Anna said, "We're just gonna hafta keep trying 'til they understand just how helpful we all could be."

The Divas look to each other before sighing a moan and looking towards the concrete sidewalk in worry.


	7. Episode 7: Ouen Vendetta

Episode 7: Ouen Vendetta

"**I have to write this quickly!**" Christina shrieks as she grabs her head in frustration. She stares at her laptop again, having already written her first sentence.

"**She continues to wait for the man of her destiny,**" the kanji read.

_This is the scene were she meets with the first man..._ Christina thinks to herself, _What should I do next?_

The three Agents stood in a wide area of the living room, watching as the aging author rubs her chin in thought, then looks towards each other.

"Guess we should get started then," Morris said.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Derek asked.

"It's her decision," J said with a shrug, "Even if that guy didn't want us getting involved, I doubt he can get her to think twice about it." He then places his hands behind his back, "We'll have to talk to Ryu when we're done, see what he has to say about this."

The two back-ups look to each other in worry before placing their hands behind their backs and preparing for their mission. With the first note of the song, they began performing movements disturbing similar to Hayato's bold cheer.

_SHAWA bukoware mayonaka  
__Kura no rimokon nigiri shime  
__zee zee itteta kyonen no natsu_

_Now then...how should I work this out?_ Christina thinks to herself as she stares at her laptop. She can picture a younger version of herself sitting in the meadow, picking flowers from a rose.

_Waiting for the man of her destiny, she calmly sits; picking peddles to pass the time. She longs for the day that he gazes upon her eyes and becomes mesmerized by her beauty and wonder._

_BAIKU no menkyo hoshii na  
__Soshitara BAIKU mo hoshii na demo  
__Kekkyoku uda uda shiteta ototoshi no natsu_

_Suddenly...off in the distance, a man wanders by. At first, he doesn't notice her, but then when he turns to look..._ Christina drools romantically as her idea began to expand the more she thought about what to write, _Instantaneously, his eyes lock onto her, his heart races as he moves towards her, waving as he did. She eventually catches sight of him and, just like him, her heart races as well!_

_BAKANSU tte kotoba no hanbun wa baka baka baka  
__Douse baka nara genki na baka ga ii_

Christina is interrupted by the sound of her doorbell ringing. She looks over to the door to see a young chef holding a box full of bottles come through.

"**Soba delivery,**" He said, "**Sorry it took so long.**" Christina immediately jumps up and shoots steam from her nose in inspiration.

"Soba!" her mind rings, picturing the delivery man as a handsome, young man with brown hair, wearing a black suit and carrying a gift in his hand. Invigorated, she began clacking away at her laptop as sentences began to form on her screen.

"**Come near me,**" the first chapter title read, "**He embraced me with his freshness like fresh soba noodles; what strength. Unable to endure it, I fainted.**"

"**I can write!**" Christina exclaims as she continues to write her chapter, "**I can write!**"

She stops after a minute, staring at her screen again as the sentence, "**Her first kiss is probably today...**" flashes on her screen.

_A normal love scene won't cut it!_ She thinks to herself.

_BABY  
__BANG! BANG! BANG! Hadashi de GO NOW  
__Jinrui no shinka ni sakaratte_

_Needs to be more breathtaking..._ Christina thinks to herself, picturing her first two characters strolling through the beach, seeming dull and uninterested in everything around them.

_After a long day frolicking in the meadow, we decided to stroll along the shores of the beach. I stare at the man who fell for my charms, shy and nervous. What can I do to show my love for him? I can't just flat out scream "marry me". Not only would it sound embarrassing, but it would scare him into running away in fright. I must find the courage within myself to express my feelings and show him how much he means to me._

_BABY  
__BANG! BANG! BANG! Oh! Bakazura de  
__SUUTSU de umi ni tobi konde  
__Saa taiyou to uchi awase shiyou_

_I took a deep breath, clenching my folded hands towards my heart pounding chest as I move closer to him. He seemed to sense that I wanted something and turns around. I was silent at first, unsure of what to say. But he seemed to understand my feelings and clutched my hands gently and pulled me into his arms._

_His embrace created a warm sensation so comforting I couldn't help but let him lead me around the beach as though it were a dance floor. Truly, he is the love of my life and I wish it to be forever._

Christina is interrupted by the sound of her window unlocking. Glancing over to it, a cat burglar jumps into her room, chortling sinisterly.

"**Hey! I'm a thief!**" he shouts.

This would've been a nightmare for victims of house robberies. But all Christina saw in the thief is another inspiration to her story.

"**Awesome! I'm enchanted!**" she screams, picturing the thief as a dastardly villain, draped in a black cape and wearing a mask and top hat.

"**I'm here to steal your heart!**" the villain snickers. Love struck, Christina began clacking away at her laptop again.

"**Finally, I am an ex-convict,**" her story read as she pictures her younger self being pulled into a kiss by the villain, to the heartbroken dismay of her first love, "**But, but... You are the henchmen of love, and your heart is the wanted suspect I'm looking for!** **It was then that the fight over me between men had begun...**"

Christina stops again, hugging herself romantically, "**Alas! I am a sinful woman!**"

_Otokomae da ne Kimura-kun  
__Atari mae da yo Maeda-san  
__Maeda-san nante uchi ni wa inai (maji de?)_

_As I was being whisked away by my devious love, I saw another man appear before us. A strong soldier with a red helmet and vest who thought I was being kidnapped and immediately took arms. I stood back and watched as my dastardly love pulls his sword out and begins clashing swords with the man attempting to rescue me._

_BAIKU no menkyo hoshii na (mada itten no?)  
__Dakedo haisha e mo ikanakya demo  
__Kekkyoku uda uda shisou kotoshi no natsu mo_

_My dastardly love was enraged. He had performed his best moves and the chivalrous man merely dodged and blocked them. The two began to get serious, coming at each other, full force and throwing swings that were blocked with the sounds of metal clashing with metal. Once again, my heart races, watching these two fight for the sake of holding me in their arms; my dastard love out of lust, while the warrior an act of bravery and justice._

_"Keikaku doori nanka sumanai"  
__Sore ga baka no BAKANSU  
__Uchi ni tsuku made genki na baka de ii_

The doorbell rings again, grabbing Christina's attention as she turns to see a man walk in, holding a fish.

"**Express home delivery!**" he shouts. Steam shot out of Christina's nose as another inspiring idea enters her head, imagining the man as the hero who fells the villain and holds him, incapacitated, in his hands.

"**Love is power!**" the warrior said as he drops the villain and walks over to the young Christina, taking her into his arms.

"**The image of love won't stop!**" she cries, running her hands on the keyboards some more.

"**And then, I was snatched away,**" it read, "**I'm sorry, men who loved me. My heart and body are different things. Already, I'm a sniper for love. The men I aim for will not escape.**"

"**I am love!**" she sobs happily as she hugs herself, "**And love is me!**"

_BABY  
__BANG! BANG! BANG! Hadashi de GO NOW  
__SANGURASU atama ni nokkechatte_

_It was now a three-way battle for my heart. The handsome man, drawn to me by my loving charm; the devious man, who swept me off my feet and took me into his dark, lustful arms; and the warrior, who tried to save me through bravery and chivalry, fired up by my beauty. I watched joyously as they took arms and came at each other, swinging, clashing and pushing each other into submission. Who will win my heart, who will go home defeated and depressed. Only the future knows...and even I cannot sway it to reveal its secrets._

_BABY  
__BANG! BANG! BANG! Oh! Bakazura de  
__T-SHATSU no suso musunjatte  
__Saa shashin wa kihon V-SAIN  
__De koukai to hansei ga omiyage_

The book goes on sale later that day. In an instant, all copies vanished like water as a record breaking 100,000,000 copies reached the homes of eager readers around the world.

"Sensei!" several reporters shouted, "**A word from your fans!**"

Christina shrieks with love as her lustful imagination turns the reporters into dashing young men, each holding a bouquet of roses.

"**A word from your love slaves!**" they all shout.

Christina giggles as she places a finger on her lips, "**Novels are...**" she began before blowing a kiss to her vivid imagination, "**Simpler than love!**"

* * *

"**This has been a frightening day for us...**" Tsuyoshi mumbles as he, Kenshin and Hayato wandered down the sidewalk, "**First Kikuchi-sama disappears, and now we have another Western Ouendan making fools of us.**"

"**At this rate, we'll never be able to maintain our reliability in this city,**" Kenshin sighs, "**Maybe we should've started somewhere less troublesome and work our way up the ranks.**"

Hayato growls, about to say something when he saw Morris, J and Derek climb into a black convertible down the street. His frown tightens in anger as he began marching towards them.

"Do you think anyone's still there?" Morris asked, "For all we know, they could've gone to bed by now."

"Let's check around base," J said, "I'm sure they're still up and about, doing something to occupy themselves."

J presses a button next to the monitor, waiting a few minutes before the screen flickered on, showing the simulative meadow and several occupants sitting around a large picnic. The dogs play fought and groomed each other while the rest sat around the picnic, talking among themselves.

A split second after observing the scene before him, the five dogs jerk their heads up and made a dash towards him.

"Mr. J! Mr. J!" Sabin howls as the five threw their front paws on the holographic screen.

"It's Mr. J!" Lava yips, "He's come to see us!"

"Yo, J!" Spin shouts as the rest of the group turns to the monitor, "What's happenin' dawg!"

"Just fine," J said as he rests his elbows on his knees and looks towards the dogs wagging their tails, "And how about you? Did you behave yourselves while I was gone?"

"Of course, Mr. J!" Mecho barks.

"We were bored at one point!" Diablo said.

"But Ms. Kanda showed up and let us play tag with her!" Vixie yips.

"Wow! That sounds like fun!" J chuckles.

"So, what've you been up to lately?" Spin asked.

"You wouldn't believe the morning we had," J said, "I was just wandering through Asahi with Morris and Derek, deciding what we should do to pass the time. Then this funny old woman shows up and begs us to help her write her next story. She seemed really desperate, so we decided to accept her help."

Shinta suddenly spits out a mouth full of soda and stares at the monitor in shock, "You what!?"

"What? Is that bad?" Lava asked as J suddenly glances towards Shinta in surprise. Spin then turns his gaze back to J.

"This might sound a little awkward," he mutters, "But you didn't happen to run into oppositions, did you?"

"Huh..." J mutters, sitting back, "Well...now that you mentioned i-" before he could finish, a hand shoves him away from the monitor as Hayato stuck his face into it.

"KISAMA!!" he roars. The five dogs freak out and ran behind Spin, pulling their tails between their legs and shaking in fright while everyone else, save Ryuta, stares at Hayato in shock.

"Howerr! What was that!?" Sabin whines.

"He's scarier than Mr. Chieftain!" yelps Vixie.

"W-wait a minute!" Spin stutters, shaken by Hayato's sudden intrusion, "There's a logical explanation for th-"

"Don't even try to give me that, sleazebags!" Hayato snaps, "You think you have the right to just show up, take away everything we worked our blood and sweat off to achieve, and act like everyone would accept you over us!?"

"I don't know, why don't you tell us?" Ryuta snorts as he picks up a small tomato from his bento and tosses it into his mouth. Hayato shoots his glare towards him.

"What was that!?" he growls as Ryuta chews and swallows the tomato.

"You know what I'm talking about," Ryuta said, eyeing Hayato, "Your rival spirit has led you to think the only way to assert yourself into this city is by responding to every call that comes out a person's mouth. I believe the Japanese word for 'hypocrite' is 'nisekunshi'."

Hayato grits his teeth in anger, "Mou oshi! You don't even care that these bastards are ridiculing our tradition and stealing those who've relied on us for centuries!?"

"You're the one who's blind and dumb, thinking Asahi would start relying on you just because you showed up and made everyone turn to you for help. You neglected to realize that those people have a right to choose which Ouendan should encourage them to fight their problems. If they want someone else to cheer for them, we aren't at liberty to force them to change their minds."

Hayato's growling increased, "If you want to dwindle yourselves to word of mouth, that's your problem! But as long as Noble's in charge of this town, people will still come to us for encouragement and aide!" Ryuta's frown increases in unexpressed frustration, "I catch another one of you coming here to do more than everyday activities, I'll see to it that you return to your side of the city with shattered pieces of your pride!" he then hits something off-screen, causing it to vanish.

The entire picnic fell silent as everyone stared at where the screen was. Spin looks over to Ryuta after a minute.

"So now what?" he asked, "That guy sounded serious about tryin' to get rid of us."

"Explaining didn't seem to help much," Ryuta sighed, "We may have no choice but to heed his demands and stay out of their business until they understand the true meaning of dependency."

Shinta compresses his lips in worry as he looks down at the can of soda in his hand.

* * *

"Was that really necessary!?" J exclaims as Hayato stood up from his position beside the convertible, "I was going to apologize to you for what happened earlier!"

"Spare me your sympathy!" Hayato snorts, pulling his right glove off, "You think a simple apology is going to wash away the humiliation you gave Noble when we were tossed aside like a piece of trash!?"

"Wha'cha want us to do about it!?" Morris retorts, "We can't just ignore her after she dropped down on her hands 'n knees and begged us to inspire her."

"Staying out would've saved you from becoming another thorn on our side! But since you deliberately waltzed into our territory and treated it like your own backyard, you just invited yourself into our vendetta!"

"Vendetta?" J mutters before Hayato took the glove he pulled from his right hand and slaps it across his face. The impact jerked the BA-2's face to side; a red mark growing on his cheek.

"Hey! What's the deal!?" Derek yelps as he and Morris leaned back in shock.

"I'm sure you remember the old American tradition of declaring a duel," Hayato said, slipping his glove back over his right hand, "Think if it as a reminder of what's going to happen when our paths cross again!" he then turns around and walks off, leaving the three Agents to stare at him, dumbfounded and confused.

* * *

Shinta wanders into the dining room of the houseboat the next morning, buttoning his blue coat. He opens the fridge door and rummages through it until he finds a bowl of left over, diced fruit. Not having much of an appetite, he takes the bowl out and heads over to the table to eat.

After chewing on a couple cubes of cantaloupe and a watermelon, Shinta notices a blue laptop sitting near the center of the table with the crest of Noble glued on the center. He eyes around the room before pulling the laptop towards him, opening and powering it up. Activating an internet browser, he types down "urban dictionary" in the address bar, causing a website to appear with the exact name written on top. He immediately drops the toothpick he used to pick up the fruit cubes upon seeing the large list of words taking up most of the screen.

"**Hayato read through all this!?**" he nearly yelps. Shinta compresses his lips as he starts hitting the random button to see how many words he could learn. Three definitions into the site, Honoka pops up beside him with an impatient look on her face.

"**Shinta-kun! I wanna check my e-mail!**" she whines. She glances over Shinta's shoulder a second before snatching the laptop from him, "EEEEEEEEEEEEE!! **Are these new English words!?**"

Shinta tries to explain as Rin and Reika enter the room, overhearing Honoka's gleeful squeal. Upon seeing the website, they crowd around the orange haired Noble Girl, flooding the room with giggles and talk about how some of the words sounded strange to them. Shinta tries to cut in but their loud chattering was thicker than the flesh on their body, forcing him to just sit back and watch in worry.

Suddenly, a hand slams the laptop shut, startling everyone in the room as they stumble away from the table. They turn heads to see Hayato almost tower over them with an aggravated look on his face. Rin, Reika and Shinta shudder in fright while Honoka waves cheerfully to the Noble leader.

"**Hi, Haya-kun!**" she shouts, "What up, dawg!"

Hayato practically explodes it anger as he nearly gets into everyone's faces, "**Don't you dare talk to me in that language!**" Everyone but Honoka increased in shuddering as she just stares at him like a curious child.

"**But we're learning a new English language,**" she said bringing her fists up to her shoulders excitedly, "**I couldn't wait to try it out to the first person I speak to!**"

Hayato yanks the laptop up with one hand, his anger increasing, "**You are NOT learning a new language! These are just a bunch of blatant obscenities Americans think would make them look cool if they treat them like compliments!**"

"**So Haji-kun was right,**" Shinta said, "**You have stumbled across the Urban Dictionary and read the entire site like a kid's story.**"

Hayato eyes Shinta in annoyance before stuffing the laptop under his arm, "**Dragging you to another country and coaxing you into their little gang isn't enough; so they want you to start talking like them!? What next; they hand you a microphone and expect you to dance and sing like a crazed lunatic!**"

"**B-but what if there was a reason for our rivals learning this kind of slang?**" Shinta retorts nervously, "**I mean... Tokyo's the largest tourist attraction in Japan. If even the Ouendan lacking in the English language has to at least understand the meaning of urban slang, it must mean a majority the western foreigners would actually uses these words and not even care if anyone calls them offenders out of misunderstanding.**"

Hayato continues to glare at Shinta before reluctantly slapping the laptop back on the table, "**Fine then. But you're only allowed to understand these words! I don't want any of you even THINKING about speaking these slang to ANYONE!**" he gives the group one more glance before heading into another room.

The room became silent a few minutes before Honoka threw her arms into the air with delight, "Yata! **Now we can learn this new language without worrying about Haya-kun trying to stop us!**" she scoops up the laptop and rushes off into another room. Rin and Reika look to each other before heading off after her, leaving Shinta alone in the dining room.

The rookie Noble sat in his seat a while, feeling anxious about the sudden change in atmosphere ever since his return from EBA Central. He knew they were more than upset by how even a couple members of Ouen were mucking up his assertion into the squad and the city they moved to. But after what happened yesterday, he couldn't think of anything but how rotten he felt almost shoving their generosity into their faces after all they did to try and help get him back on his feet.

Shinta stares at what fruit cubes were left in his bowl, thinking more on what had happened when Noble first showed up and got bombarded with facts they had no clue were going to exist in Tokyo; the way he lashed out when Spin tried to be friends with him; and how Hayato worsened the situation by blaming EBA and Ouen for unintentionally stomping all over their territory.

Sighing stressfully, he gets up and heads out of the boat, deciding to just wander around the city and straighten out his thoughts while deciding what he should be doing to benefit his and Noble's time spent in Tokyo.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the north-east sector of Asahi Town, Zaiko Company, a shoe wholesale store, is brimming with activity. Zaiko Santarou, the owner of the store, looks through some bills he recently picked up.

"**Eh...Now to start calculations,**" he mutters, "**Stocking is 5,000,000 yen, plus cost of fuel and lights, 200,000 yen.**" His wife sits at her desk, counting up the totals on her abacus as he continues calculation, "**Rent is 150,000 yen, and my hairpiece is 200,000 yen; equaling...**"

"**The cost of your hairpiece means nothing, you idiot!**" the wife shouts, socking Zaiko in the jaw. She then picks up a pair of red, oddly buckled sneakers, staring at them in frustration, "**Most of the stock is from these strange looking sneakers!**" she points to a towering shelf full boxes containing the same footwear, "**If we can't sell a mountain of these, we'll be deep in red!**"

"**Take it easy!**" Zaiko mutters nervously as he takes a cloth out and dabs the sweat from his cheeks, "**If you are right, then these shoes won't even catch the eyes of aliens!**"

"**Aliens...**" the wife mutters in thought before her eyes sparkle in realization, "**That's it!**"

"Huh?" Zaiko mutters, his nervousness increasing.

* * *

The next thing Zaiko knew, he was stuffed in an astronaut suit and crammed in the pilot seat of a shuttlecraft. He shakes with fright as the engines start to burn, preparing the ship for lift off.

"**I shouldn't have said those things...**" he mutters amidst the chattering of his teeth, both from his fears and the jostling of the shuttle reaching lift-off.

"Otou-chan," calls a voice from the monitor in front of Zaiko. He glances up to see his wife and newborn child staring at him rather greedily.

"**I took out a loan and bought you a departing ticket,**" she began before thrusting her finger at the screen, her face twisted in anger, "**But if you don't sell any shoes, you'll get no return ticket!**"

Zaiko's anxiety practically shoots through the roof as the shuttle finally bursts to life, blasting him straight into space. As he frets the outcome of his impending doom, he instinctively begins stuttering one word that could save him and his company from an immediate shut down, "O...O..."

_**OUENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!**_

End Notes:

1. The whole scene where soba led to a guy swaying Christina is supposed to be a pun off of the word "soba" meaning "come near me" in Japanese  
2. "Kisama" is a Japanese term of vulgerly cursing someone of hatred or annoyance.  
3. There were two Japanese kanji for "hypocrite". I chose "nisekunshi" because it also means "snob", which Ryuta used to insult Hayato's lack of definition of "dependency".  
4. "Otou-chan" is the wife's term of adressing her husband.


	8. Episode 8: Perseverance

Episode 8: Perseverance of the Universal Kind

The shuttle takes off into space as Zaiko stares out at its endless sea of darkness, dotted by stars. He continues to shake from the anxiety of not being able to make any profit in whatever inhabitable planet the shuttle lands on.

"**She's crazy!**" he cries in fright, "**Even if I do find aliens around here, there's no way I can possibly sell the shoes piling up in our warehouse!**"

Unknown to him, three astronauts managed to sneak onboard, staring out at the vastness of space. One of them, being larger than the rest, stood in the center of the shuttle slowly rising out of his seat and rotating into an upside down position. Revealed within the window of the astronaut helmet is Kaoru Kiyuin, the Noble Squad chief, his face barely expressing any changes in his lack of control on gravity.

The shuttle suddenly loses altitude and falls towards the burning lands of Venus. Zaiko's shuddering increases as alienated terra firma slowly drew near.

"**I've finally come!**" he yelps as the shuttle moves to the side and lands slowly on the first patch of rock it could find. He looks out the window at a vast city crawling with aliens, big and small, and various lavas and volcanoes that would most likely be their homes. His panic increases, "Aiya! **I have to sell a large quantity!**"

The Noble squad pulls off their suits and appears behind Zaiko, shouting "osu" at the top of their lungs. What anxiety chilled within his body melts away as determination takes over. Grabbing a large quantity of boxes, he rushes out of the shuttle, sets up a stand and begins a persisting advertisement to attract the attention of the citizens living on Venus.

_Hajimari no FUREEZU ni  
__Karada zenbu wo azukete  
__Kidou ni notta SUTOORII_

Most of the aliens on Venus went about their life, barely acknowledging Zaiko's stand. The owner could only stand behind the table and wave his hands around, flatly muttering the greatness of his shoe products. He picks up a pair of shoes and runs to the front of his stand, shouting a bargain price and explaining how well they would work. The tactic managed to grab several onlookers as they emerge from craters in the ground and crowd around him, listening into his advertisement.

_Ari no mama no POOZU de  
__Omoi kitte fumikittara  
__Massao na sora_

Managing to grab their attention, Zaiko throws a pair of shoes on and stands at the bank of a lava lake.

"**If you wear theses shoes,**" he began, pointing towards the lake, "**You'll be able to walk on top of hot magma! Watch!**" he demonstrates by jumping out onto the surface of the lake and immediately runs across it, "**Like this!**"

The aliens shout and cheer with delight as they began crowding around Zaiko's stand, tossing their money out to grab a pair of their own.

_Haruka na keshiki no  
__Sono mukou demo  
__Bokura meguri atte  
__Hanareteku_

"**Thank you!**" Zaiko shouts as he starts handout box after box to the eager, octopus-like aliens.

After handing out the first batch of shoes, Zaiko recalculates his stock, seeing he still had a lot more to sell. Groaning, he heads into the city sweating, more out of nervousness that the hot atmosphere, over the next step of his plan.

"**I need to get publicity through television commercials!**" he cries.

Noble appears from a nearby ally, and shout "osu" again, rekindling his burning determination. Zaiko manages to flag down a nearby TV station and pays for use of their station to raise awareness to his product.

_Sou da yo  
__Nandomo hibi wo kuguri nuketa  
__Kono HAATO wa  
__Ima sara ni kake dashite  
__Boku to kimi wo  
__Tsunagu sekai wo mezasu darou_

Zaiko was nervous as he stood in front of the camera, rubbing his perspiring forehead. This was probably the first time he had ever had to advertise on live TV, as he was used to having other people run his products. After staring at the camera a couple of seconds, he began waving his arms around, muttering the bargain price of his shoes. The more he got into explaining the bargain price and the quality of the shoes, the more animated he became, eventually grabbing a pair and dancing around the camera, praising the design and sturdiness of the shoes.

Minutes after advertising, a row of phones began to ring. Zaiko scrambles over to the phones and picks one of them up.

"**All these orders at once!**" he shouts as he puts the phone to his ear, "**Hello! Zaiko Company!**"

On the other line, a caterpillar-like alien speaks into the phone, waving his many feet up and down, "**Give me 50 pairs!**"

"**200 pairs please!**" shouts another costumer on the next line.

"**Thank you! Thank you!**" he calls out as he takes down the orders and prepares to ship the shoes out.

Zaiko is interrupted by the ground shaking around him. He rushes outside to see giant, greenish-blue Cyclopes standing outside. One of them lifts his foot and points to it.

"**I want shoes,**" he says slowly.

"**Huge!**" Zaiko yelps in hesitation, "**I have to lengthen the shoes and make them bigger!**"

Noble pops out of the studio and shouts "osu" again, giving Zaiko another dose of determination. He immediately runs back into the shuttle and pulls out several pairs of shoes, fighting to stretch them to appease the giants wandering around.

_Nani ga okotte mo  
__BARANSU torunda yo  
__Kakou suru no wa sukoshi kowakute mo  
__Kokoro wa machigatte inai kara_

Zaiko began struggling with the shoes, trying to stretch them out and make them larger than normal. He tries to emphasize the stretchiness of the shoes as he was working to refit them. Most of the Cyclopes lost interest and began stomping around him, but he didn't let up. He began stretching and pulling at the shoes, continuing his advertising to try and bring out more attention to his large costumers.

_Sou da yo  
__Nandomo hibi wo kuguri nuketa  
__Kono HAATO no  
__Kizu wo kakusu ki wa nai_

After resizing the shoes, Zaiko hands a pair over to the Cyclops that asked for them, "**Well, try them on!**"

"**Shoe!**" the Cyclops said as he pulls the shoes on and stretches them, "**Oh! They stretch!**" he gazes at the shoes in wonder, "**It's perfect!**"

_Saigo no toki ga otozureru made  
__Negau darou  
__Ima sara ni kake dashite_

The other Cyclopes began crowding around Zaiko, giving out their large currencies, "**Give me shoes!**"

"**Gimme!**"

"**Me too!**"

Zaiko's eyes burst with hearts at the size of the coins, "**Uho! Your coins are huge too!**"

He returns to the shuttle after dropping off the currency he collected, realizing there was still a large pile of shoes left.

"**There's still a stockpile left!**" he groaned.

Noble appears behind him and shout "osu" a final time, burning his anxiety away and replacing it with more determination. Zaiko runs back to his stand and continues his aggressive advertisement to the alien inhabitants.

_Ah ikutsumono  
__Chigau sekai ga hiraiteku  
__Kitto kotae wa motteru  
__Ah sono koudo de  
__Mieru sekai wa hitotsu darou?_

Zaiko returns to Earth, running to his wife, who's busy sweeping the dust and leaves from the entrance of their store.

"**I'm back!**" he shouts enthusiastically. The wife looks up towards him.

"Otouchan!" she shouts as she runs towards him, "**How was business?**"

"**Just so-so!**" Zaiko answers, "**I bought you a great souvenir!**"

He brings his wife to Venus and shows her a giant store labeled "Zaiko's Mega Store Cosmic".

"**Zaiko Mega Store is opening all over the place!**" Zaiko shouts with glee. He then points to the sky, "**I will make as many stores as there are stars in the sky!**"

"**You're the best, Otouchan!**" the wife giggles with glee at her husbands rise to fame and wealth.

* * *

"Okayama-san," calls a voice from the Yuhi Town Hall, west of the town itself. A woman at the desk of the building looks around as she calls out again, "Okayama-san!"

An old, balding man wearing a blue coat over a pink shirt and brown pants walks over to her. He carries a cane for support as a Saint Bernard follows before him.

"**Yes, yes?**" he calls as he walks over to the woman.

"Okayama-san," the woman began, "**Please go exterminate the Oni.**"

The man places a hand near his ear and leans closer, "Eh? **I have poor hearing, can you repeat that?**"

"**Yes, yes,**" the woman mutters nervously, "**The oni has been revived at Onigashima. Okayama-san, who has taken his hero's pension...**" she then points to the door, shouting in encouragement and determination, "**No, the Momotaro-san that once exterminated the Oni must now go and exterminate him once again!**"

"**No way! It's impossible!**" Momotaro shouts as he and his dog made cross-signs with their hands, "**It's already impossible now!**" he throws his crossed hands into the air, shouting in fright, "**It's absolutely impossib-!**"

"Hello?" he interrupts as he realizes that the woman had slipped out leaving a sign on her desk that read "Sorry, I'm on lunch break" in Japanese. Terrified that his battle with the oni will do him in before his age does, the once heroic Momotaro began swaying towards the exit of the building, shaking and sweating like mad, "O...O..."

He shouts so loud, his dentures fly out of his mouth,

_**OUENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!**_

* * *

"Hey, check it out, y'all!" Morris said as he walks over to a boarded, faceless statue of three characters, one being human while the other two resembled a dog, on left, and a monkey, on right. Sitting on the human's shoulder is a pheasant, its wings spread high and its beak open as if calling for battle. Derek stops beside him while Atsushi, Hajime, and Ittetsu appeared behind the two.

"Hey! Peach Boy!" Derek chuckles, "I didn't think he'd be such a big icon on this side of town."

"Agent know Momotaro?" Ittetsu asks, not looking surprised.

"Dude, you have no idea how many old, foreign fables we have lyin' around in that library downstairs," Morris chuckles, "We call it a second pastime whenever the holodeck breaks down or when Mr. Virus invades our systems and has to find somethin' to pass the time."

"Hey! I have an idea!" Derek said, turning to the small group of Agents and Ouendan, "Why don't we take turns seeing how we look as Peach Boy and his buddies?"

"Cool!" Hajime said. He, Atsushi and Ittetsu head over to the statues and took up positions behind them, Atsushi standing behind the dog while Ittestsu stood behind the monkey, and Hajime stood behind Momotaro. The two cohorts had to bend down in order for their faces to appear in the holes of the statues.

Morris laughs as he and Derek observed the three Ouen now resembling the characters in the Momotaro story.

"Lookin' badass, Haji," Derek said as he places his hands in his pocket.

"Ya think so?" Hajime asks as he places his hands behind his back.

"No doubtin' that, dawg!" Morris said, reaching into his pocket, "I should take a picture of this as a souvenir for-!"

"How dare you treat Ouendan with such disrespect!" shouts a voice from behind. Morris and Derek nearly jump as they turn to see Tsuyoshi and Kenshin almost standing an inch from their faces.

"Yo! Where'd you come from!?" the two shout as the Noble cohorts move closer to their faces, forcing them to bend back with surprisingly calm looks on their faces.

"First you discredit us, now you insult our very being!?" Kenshin spat as he brings up his throttling fist, "You two should be taught a lesson in respect!"

Derek looks up to Hajime who bent to the side of the Momotaro statue, placing one hand on the shoulder and resting the other on the monkey's head, "Look's like you ain't kiddin' when you said these guys didn't know anything beyond Standard English."

"Wait! Stop!" shouts a voice in hesitation. The two Noble cohorts jerk their heads over to Shinta as he rushes over to the rivaled group and stops in front of Morris and Derek.

"Kikuchi-sama!?" Tsuyoshi yelps as the two stumble back.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Kenshin demands.

"These guys aren't insulting us!" Shinta exclaims, "It part of American language!"

"What're you saying!?" the two exclaims in a harsher tone.

"It urban slang! It sound like insult, but are actually compliment! You have no reason to punish them for saying something others consider respect!"

The two stare at Shinta in anger before being separated from each other. Kaoru stands between them, staring down at the young Noble with the usual expressionless face. Shinta stares back at him, rather nervous, but defiant nonetheless. The tall chief twitches a frown before grabbing Shinta by the shoulder and shoving him behind the rest of the Noble group, then moves closer to Morris and Derek.

"Do you really think you could trick us into believing such nonsense?" he exclaims. Though he has no expressions of anger, just hearing the sharp tone of his voice was enough to make Morris and Derek perspire nervously, "We are not so stupid that we don't understand English when we hear it."

The two began to back away, throwing their hands up in defense.

"Well, in that case..." Morris mutters, "We'll make sure to avoid sayin' stuff that'd seriously offend you."

"Yeah..." Derek mutters as well, "No reason to be so uptight, big guy."

"Your spirits may hold true," Kaoru says as he brings his hands to his chest, "But I won't let you get off until I make sure you will watch where you flick your forked tongues."

Morris and Derek continued to back away until they bumped into the boarded statues. They look to either side of them, finding Tsuyoshi and Kenshin barricading their only other means of escape, bringing their hands up towards their heads.

"Kiyuin-san! You can't-!" Shinta tries to protest. But before he could finish his sentence, his three teammates threw their hands out, shouting "osu" in a boisterously loud voice.

Hajime suddenly appears in front of the two BA backups, throwing his arms out like a human shield. His eyes widen as he spazzes a split second before dropping to his hands and knees with his head dropped between his shoulders, his entire body trembling in uncontrolled fright. Even for someone who's put up with the combined force of Kai, Atsushi and Ittetsu's spirits for six years, getting hit by one as powerful as theirs was still enough to make him crumble to the floor in a terrified heap.

Kaoru frowns as he stares at the shaking Ouen rookie, "Naïve little Ouendan. These men insult you, and yet you insist on rescuing them?"

"N...naive...?" Hajime seethes in a shaken voice. He brings his head out from below his arms to stare at Kaoru with determination plastered on his terrified face, "I th-think...the n-naïve Ouendan ar-round here are y-you!"

"You are in no position to be making such brash judgments, Ouen runt!"

"At least I kn-now what's right and wrong," Hajime pushes himself to a standing position, his body still trembling from the effects of Noble's angered spirit, "I don't just take what I hear, turn it into fact and believe it like it was the blood of my life!"

Kaoru's frown increases in annoyance as he brings his hands to his chest again, "Conniving little..."

_**OSU!**_

The Noble chief's eyes widen as he stumbles away from the immediate group. He and the other Nobles turn to see Kai standing a few feet from Kaoru, hand stretched in front of him while standing in a sideways position. Ittetsu and Atsushi rush over to the Ouen chief as his dreadlocked counterpart regains his composure and turns to glare at him, Tsuyoshi and Kenshin rushing to his side.

"You have made a big mistake, coming here and interfering with our business." Kai said, straightening up.

"Your business?" Kaoru growls, throwing a gloved finger towards Morris and Derek, "Those Western Ouendan have been interfering with our duties, and you're just going to brush it off like it was nothing?"

"You took refuge in Asahi Town and erased any chance of them relying on us for aide. In a sense, you are no different than they are!"

"Don't you dare compare us to those Western Ouendan! We asserted ourselves with clear sincerity! They asserted themselves through lies and deceit, making people believe they are more reliable than the Ouendan who worked hard to please their every needs!"

"You cannot even comprehend the difference between compliments and insults through words alone! Therefore, you have no right to come into our town and tell us how to run our business! Nor do you have the right to tell us who can and cannot be allowed to respond to the outcries of the people in this city!"

Kaoru's glare increases seconds before faint voices grabbed the entire group's attention.

"**Where have you been!? I've been calling you for five minutes now!**"

The group, save Ouen and Kaoru, ran towards the corner where the Yuhi Town Hall could be seen. Momotaro stood at the entrance, pointing an annoyed, wrinkly finger at Spin, who threw his hands up in defense. His dog companion barks in equal annoyance.

"**Are you Ouendan always this late!? Are you the only one who responded!? There should've been three!**"

"**Whoa, slow down, Oji-san!**" Spin yelps, "**I can't help you if you keep talking all at once!**"

"Spin, wha'cha doin' here!?" Morris asked as he and Derek rushed over to the rookie Agent, "Chief'll kill ya if he finds out you snuck over here again!"

Spin looks over to the two backups, rubbing his head in hesitation, "That's what I told Ryu, but he kept pesterin' me to help some Peach Boy fight an Oni. So I come out here to find him and I get bombarded by an old man yelling at me for bein' late and shit."

"**Why are you three still babbling!?**"Momotaro complains,"**If you're the Ouendan I called for, then hurry up and do your dance of encouragement so I can fight the Oni and go home!**"

"**Are you blind!?**" Tsuyoshi exclaims, jumping out from behind the corner and running over to the three Agents, "**These aren't Ouendan! They're a bunch of nobodies who think they can be like us!**"

"Oh, not you guys again!" Spin groans as he, Morris and Derek turn to look at Tsuyoshi and Kenshin, who came out from behind the corner to join his friend's side.

"Your attempts at making people think you're Ouendan are about to be halted now that the real ones are here!" Kenshin spat.

"Really?" Morris mutters, "Well, they don't seem to be doin' a good job tryin' to stop us."

The two Noble cohorts immediately whirled around to find the members of Ouen tending Hajime's mental condition, not the least bit caring of the predicament on the other side of the corner. The rookie Ouendan had collapsed near the wooden statues clutching his hands tightly around his arms and trembling in uncontrolled fear.

"**The effects should've worn off by now,**" Suzuki said, "**Yet Tanaka-sama still shakes in fright.**"

"**It's because he's not letting go of the Noble's spirit,**" Kai said, eyeing his rival in anger, "**Kiyuin planned to use the squad's entire spirit to frighten the Agents and make them leave our country. That amount of spirit is enough to shake an entire city; and Hajime knows if he lets go, they would easily shoot their spirit over to the Agents and chase them out of both towns.**"

Kaoru frowns in annoyance as Tsuyoshi and Kenshin rush back over to him.

"You brat!" Tsuyoshi exclaims, pointing at Hajime, "This is all your fault! If you had stayed out of our way, those wannabes wouldn't have taken custody of your responsibilities!"

"Maybe i-if you'd just mind your own d-damn business instead of getting into ours, we w-wouldn't be in this predicament!" Hajime seethed, glaring at the two Noble cohorts in aggravation and fright.

"Release our spirits at once!" Kenshin ordered, "Those Western Ouendan must be punished for their insolence!"

"You want your spirits back!? Then get outta here and stop bothering us!"

"Are you completely out of your mind!?" Tsuyoshi explodes, "You're letting those fakes make fools of us and striping away our reputation and reliability!"

"**Just leave them alone!**" Shinta exclaims, grabbing Tsuyoshi and Kenshin's attention as they shoot a glare towards him, "**I mean...you heard what Senpai said. If Ouen wants to let the Agents do most of their work, we shouldn't be trying to stop them from getting in their way. I'm sure whatever happened yesterday would be enough to keep them limited to activities other than cheering when entering Asahi Town.**"

The two were about to speak up with another voice cuts them off.

"**Let's go.**" Tsuyoshi and Kenshin turn to look at Kaoru in shock as he eyes Hajime in bitter frustration.

"**What're you saying, Kiyuin-sama!?**" the two yelp.

"**If that runt won't even relinquish our spirits, it means they are serious about letting these Western Ouendan infest their side of the city. We have no reason to stop them from doing what they want with their reputation.**" Kaoru gives Kai the same glance before turning around and walking off, his cape flapping around from the motion. Tsuyoshi and Kenshin look to Kaoru, then each other, before following after the tall Noble chief.

A few minutes after the three Noble's disappeared from view, Hajime stops trembling and crumbles to pavement, flat on his side, facing the statue he originally sat on. His spirit drops to a flicker of light that slowly grew as time passed on.

Shinta looks between where the Noble's went, then the black-garbed Ouendan. He attempts to move towards Hajime only to nearly to encounter Atsushi and Ittetsu blocking his path towards their fallen companion. The rookie Noble shrinks at the sight of their sharp glare and feeling of distrusting anger burning in their spirits. His eyebrow twitches as he slowly backs away, fretting what they might do to him.

"Matte!" shouts a voice. Atsushi and Ittetsu snap their heads towards Kai as he walks past them and stops near Shinta, seeing his cringing increase as well as the distance between him at the three Ouen. The tall Ouendan eyes Hajime, who slowly slipped onto his stomach, trying to pull himself onto his elbows, then the two cohorts again before walking past Shinta and down the road. The two remain still a few seconds before following after Kai.

"Kuso...!" Hajime groans as he climbs back into a sitting position near the boarded statues, "**I didn't think their spirits would be that strong... My whole body feels like rubber...**"

"Why you jump in their path like that!?" Shinta almost wailed, "You could've been killed with amount of rage you absorb from them!"

"I admit I was a bit suicidal shielding Morris and Derek from Noble's wrath," Hajime sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder and massaging the numbness out of his joints, "But...even if there was any other way around their oncoming spirit, they wouldn't be able to find it, given their lack of spiritual awareness..." he then looks over to Shinta, "Why did you come down here, anyway? It's not because you knew Noble was going to harass EBA."

Shinta hesitated a moment before placing a hand on the dog statue and scratching the back of his head, "I just strolling around, trying to straighten out these thoughts in my head. Everyone else still upset about what been going on lately, and I feel like I'm the only one who not feel threatened by it."

"New things are always scary, even to those who think they can handle it. The best thing for them would be to just stick it out 'til they become familiar with them."

"I'm worry 'bout what they're going to do with Agents. I was told Hayato-senpai challenge one of them to get pride back and I'm worried they might not endure what he has planned for them."

"It's not the first time they competed against an Ouendan. Whatever Noble does to them, I'm sure they'll be prepared for it."

Shinta looks down at Hajime before sighing and looking towards his feet.

End Notes:

No, I did NOT mispell "sempai". The romaji is spelled with an "n", not an "m" (Unless your Portuguese, then I won't blame you for the misunderstanding). I found this out by not only looking the word up on but also from a MegaMan X scanlation manga on Dr. Neko's site. And I also wasn't misusing the word whenever Shinta adresses Hayato simply as "Senpai". Most underlings or pupils treat the word "senpai" in almost the same way as though they were addressing their mentors as "sensei".


	9. Episode 9: Measures to be Taken

Episode 9: Measures to be Taken

"Are you nuts!?" Spin yelps, "I'd sooner put a bullet through my head than go back out there and get chewed up by Chieftain!"

"As long as he knows it's a mission, he won't be making such a big deal," Ryuta said as he sat in the large chair in the Command Room, facing the monitor which showed Momotaro skulking down the streets of Yuhi, "Since our obnoxious rivals decided to butt into our business rather than leave the situation to us, the chances of any of Ouen helping Momotaro has pretty much hit a brick wall." He turns the chair slightly to look at Spin, "Besides, if Noble has the same spirit seeking ability as we do, I'm sure they'll know you did this out of a favor rather than stab us in the back."

Spin sighs a bit in unwariness, "I suppose...but how can you be sure they'd understand us and keep their distance?"

"They may or may not take this as a message that you aren't wandering around Japan for the sole purpose of making people rely on you more than Ouendan. But if anything, it should get them to realize just how serious our methods are and decide for themselves whether they should continue to get in EBA's way or back off and focus on their own way of gaining trust."

Spin sighs again as he turns and heads out of the room.

* * *

"**I guess I have no choice but to go for it...**" Momotaro groans as he pulls a white bandana out and ties it around his forehead. He then shudders as he nears the courtyard of Yuhi Town Hall, "**I don't know if I can even exterminate the Oni in my age!**"

Seconds after finishing his sentence, he collides with someone, almost knocking him to the ground. Yelling in frustration, he gets up to lambast the person, freezing when he saw Spin stumble back in surprise, staring at him in shock and confusion. Momotaro keeps his pose a second before shoving his face into the BA-5 Agent's.

"**There you are! Where have you been!? I've been calling you for five minutes!**" he complains. The rookie Agent yelps in surprise, looking between him and the corner away from Yuhi Town Hall, "**Are you Ouendan always this late!? Are you the only one who responded!? There should be three of you!**"

"**Whoa! Calm down, Oji-san!**" Spin exclaims, backing away from Momotaro as he threw his hands up in defense, "**I can't help you if you keep talking to me all at once!**"

"Spin, wha'cha doin' here!?" exclaims another voice. Spin turns to see Morris and Derek rush over to them, panicking, "Chief'll kill ya if he finds out you snuck over here again!"

"That's what I told Ryu," Spin protests with a shrug, "But he kept pesterin' me to come down here and help some Peach Boy fight an Oni. So I came out here to find him and I get bombarded by an old man yellin' at me for bein' late!"

"**Why are you three still babbling!?**" Momotaro complains, "**If you're the Ouendan I called for, then hurry up and do your dance of encouragement so I can fight the Oni and go home!**"

"**Are you blind!**" exclaims yet another voice, "**They aren't Ouendan! They're a bunch of nobodies who think they can be like us!**"

Spin shoots a glance over to the new voice to see Tsuyoshi and Kenshin storm over to him with aggravated looks on their faces.

"Oh, not you guys again!" he groans in annoyance as Kenshin thrusts a finger towards his face.

"Your attempts at making people think you're Ouendan are about to be halted now that the real ones are here!" he spat.

"Really?" Morris asked with a raised eyebrow, "Well, they don't seem to be doin' a good job tryin' to stop us." Spin blinks in confusion before looking back over to the corner to see Ittetsu, Atsushi and Kai crowd around a mysteriously frightened Hajime. Kaoru stood a few distances from the group, glaring at his gruff-faced equal in annoyance.

The two Noble cohorts panic and rush back over to the scene they abandoned, leaving the three Agents to stare at the argument that ensued within the area.

"**Are you done chatting among yourselves!?**" Momotaro whines. The three look back over to the aging Peach Boy to find him pointing his cane at them in increased frustration, "**Then stop wasting my time and do your dance of encouragement! I wanna finish this so I can take a nap at five!**"

The Agents watch as Momotaro and his dog storm past them towards the train station, then look towards each other before shrugging and following after him. As they reach the train station, J-Pop cues up on the speakers surrounding the roofs of the indoor waiting area. Using the music playing on there, the three Agents set off to do a form of Ouendan that copied Hajime's performance.

"_Shourai no yume" no ran ni kaita ano goro no ore kara nannen datta?  
Genjitsu to risou no hazama yuraida jounetsu no honoo mo kiekakatta  
Chotto matta! Cho, chotto matta !!  
_

Momotaro hung to a ring as he waits for the train to take him to his destination. He sighs anxiously as he glances around him, wondering if and how he was going to deal with the Oni once he arrives at the Island. His dog paces around him, his inanimate, droopy face hiding any feelings he might have for the upcoming battle.

Nearly half an hour into the train ride, Momotaro looks up at the rails used to hold the rings up. Figuring he had no other choice, he grabs the metal bar and uses it to do chin-ups to increase his speed and strength. His dog sits beside him rooting him on as he vigorously pulls his chin up and over the bars.

_Shoubu wa korekara sa hatta! Hatta!  
Akirameta jitende GAME OVER  
Genjou wokono tede kiri hirakou ka  
_

Momotaro sits down after a while and places two peach buns on his lap, glancing around as he wipes the sweat from his hands.

_Oboete imasu ka? Mukashi wa tashika  
Kasukana kibou ni zenryoku wo dashita_

"**Well now, time for lunch,**" he mutters. Before he could pick up the first bun, however, he notices two animals walk towards him; a brown furred monkey and a pheasant. They stare at the buns hungrily before holding a hand out.

"**Can we have one?**" they ask simultaneously. Momotaro jitters with anticipation as he holds the buns towards them.

"**You're here!**" he cries, "**Help yourself!**"

_Ashita no tame ni ikiteimashita  
Sono kimochi dokka wasurete nai ka?  
_

The two took the buns and munched on them, savoring its juicy, peachy taste. After finishing their share, they threw their fists into the air.

"**Going to exterminate the Oni!? Let's go!**" they shout.

_Seishun ni kigen nante nai tankyuushin ni to shi wa kankenai to omou yo  
Datte sou daro?  
We wanna make the dream come true  
Tsumari...  
_

They later embark onto the Oni Beach Hot Springs Resort deep in Yuhi Town. Momotaro glances around as he and his animal companions wander through the streets.

"**Now then,**" he began, "**We'll head to the ocean.**"

Glancing into the large, city like resort, Momotaro freaks out at how maze-like the paths were.

"**Where's Onigashima!?**" he cries, shoving his fingers into his mouth in pressured anxiety.

_Saka sou saka sou saka sou jounetsu no hana wo saka sou  
Saka sou saka sou saka sou...  
_

Using his Saint Bernard as a horse, Momotaro, the monkey and the pheasant charged through the resort, doing what they can to locate the ocean and their destined battlefield. They stop and break several times to have tea and peach buns while the dog struggles to catch his breath, then continue onwards when he regains his stamina.

_Kuchizusamu MELODY ga omoidasasete kureru  
(Back in the Days)  
MEMORY wa doremo kagayaite bakari iru (So)  
You gotta remember ima mo yume no kakera wo te ni  
Ano goro no you ni (Come on!)  
Hikari hanatsu shounen no HAATO_

After a long trek through the resort, the group finally reaches the ocean where Onigashima is supposedly at. Momotaro sticks his hand over his eyes as he glances out into the blue horizon.

"_Itsuka kitto kitto kitto ore mo..." tte  
BOOttoshiteru to kitto de owaruzo  
_

"**Now, which Island was it?**" he mutters to himself. Pulling out a pair of binoculars, he gazes around the horizon until his spots his desired destination; a rocky Island several miles from the resort, shaped like a giant, hideous demon with its stalactite fangs wide open as though egging daredevils to walk into its dark entrance.

_Mujaki na yuuki furishibotte doushin no netsu wo yobi okose  
Shounen kara seinen to de chuunen ima da mokka nanika ni muchuu de  
_

"**There it is! Onigashima!!**" Momotaro shouts as he pulls his sleeve up, "**What fighting spirit I lost has swelled up within me!**"

_Kagayaite iru hou ga sou, kakkouii jan  
like challenger da YEAH!!  
_

"**Now let's get moving to the Onigashima!**" Momotaro shouts again, raising his fist towards the uncovered Island. He then noticed how frail his muscles were and jitters anxiously, "**But...with the body I have...!**"

_Sagasou sagasou sagasou yume no kakera wo sagasou  
Sagasou sagasou sagasou  
_

Renting a boat from a nearby dock, the small group of man and animal cross the treacherous seas towards Onigashima. Momotaro remained antsy about his lack of strength, rowing ever so slowly through the ocean. The situation only seemed to drown his courage as he stares at the scary appearance of the cave sitting upon the small Island, leering at him as though it were going to lunge out and swallow them whole.

He quickly shakes his head and reflex back to his youth when he was able to defeat the Oni so easily. How strong he was and how daring he became saving the world from a demon that could pull them under with so much as a death threat. Shouting in determination, the aging Peach Boy swings his oar into the ocean, pushing the boat along the path towards the cave.

_Kuchizusamu MELODY ga omoidasasete kureru  
(Back in the Days)  
MEMORY wa doremo kagayaite bakari iru (So)  
You gotta remember ima mo yume no kakera wo te ni  
Ano goro no you ni (Come on!)  
Hikari hanatsu shounen no HAATO  
_

After what seemed like an even longer trek through the oceans, they finally reach the shores of Onigashima.

"**We finally made it!**" Momotaro sighs with relief as he and the animals disembark onto its rocky, pre-historic cliff. Standing several miles up, however, is his arch-nemesis, a red skinned Oni with two horns a shaggy beard and a loincloth made of tiger skin.

"**We meet again, Momotaro!**" he shouts as he slams his spiked club onto the ground in front of him, using it as a cane to lean on.

"**Ha! Finally showed yourself, eh!?**" Momotaro yells. He immediately leaps into the air and dives towards the Oni, raising his cane high into the air, "DORYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

The Oni stares in stunned shock as his aging nemesis comes down at him and clocks him square on his fuzzy cheek, sending him crumbling to his stomach.

"**I'm back!**" Momotaro shouts with joy over his victory. Angered, the Oni jumps to his feet and stands at the mouth of the cave, which starts to vomit an army of different colored Oni, all of which have a youthful appearance.

"**GET HIM!!**" he roars. Momotaro panics at the large army of young Oni flood out of the cave towards him.

"**There's too many!!**" he yelps in fright as he and the animals scramble away from the flood.

_Nani wo shitara ii? Nani ga dekiru kono boku ni?  
Yaritai koto ga wakara nai  
I believe there's never too late  
Hajimeru no ni kitto osoi wa nai  
Kanousei wa sousa mugendai  
Ashita wo kaeteku chikara wa sou kimi shidai  
Dakara sagasou saka sou jounetsu no hana wo saka sou  
_

The group tries to make a run for it only to be stopped by the large, scruff Oni, who's slapping his club on his hand in eagerness. Momotaro stares in shock before gritting his teeth and taking arms with his walking cane. The two charge each other and clash wood on spiked stone, going into a show of strength. The dog, pheasant and monkey press their paws onto Momotaro's back, giving all their strength to help him combat the evil demon.

With great effort, the Oni is overpowered, allowing the elderly Peach Boy to thrust his cane into his mid-section and knock the wind out of him. They then turn their focus to the group of Oni, who shuddered nervously at their leaders misfortunate fall.

Shouting a battle cry, the small group of man and animal charged after the remaining Oni, sending them screaming around the cave, trying to avoid getting clocked, pecked, scratched and bitten all at once.

_Kuchizusamu MELODY ga omoidasasete kureru  
(Back in the Days)  
MEMORY wa doremo kagayaite bakari iru (So)  
You gotta remember ima mo yume no kakera wo te ni  
Ano goro no you ni (Come on!)  
Hikari hanatsu shounen no HAATO  
_

After a long winded battle, Momotaro and his companion of dog, pheasant and monkey found themselves surrounded by an even larger and tougher group of Oni. The leader confronts him, snickering as he rubs the bruise he received earlier on his cheek.

"**Ready for your final battle, Momotaro?**" he chortles as he imagines what he'll do to the aging Peach Boy.

The group shudder in fright at the new group of Oni before Momotaro steps forward.

"**I...I-I have a proclamation!**" he shouts, pointing to each of the Oni surrounding him, "**Young lads! Let's not continue this life of misery! Let's combine our forces and redevelop the Island!**" The Oni awed in wonder as they gather around the idea Momotaro threw out.

And so, on the third of February, Onigashima Land opens its doors. Spectators, who were once terrified of its demonic nature now flock to the Island to experience the rides and attractions of the now good-hearted Oni. Momotaro and his animal companions watch with amazement at how well his idea had gotten off the ground and throws his fist into the air with determination.

"**Soon, we'll take advantage of the world!**" he shouts to the eagerly excited Oni, gaining more awed wonder from his new companions.

* * *

The entire Noble Squad gathered around the living room of the houseboat. Kaoru, Shinta, Tsuyoshi and Kenshin sat on the couch pressed against the wall, while the Noble Girls sat around a reclining chair; Rin sitting in the chair while Reika stood beside it and Honoka sat on the footstool. Hayato stood near the corner of the living room, his back turned to the rest of the squad.

Aside from Honoka, who leisurely plays with her pink bunny keychain, the rest of the squad were antsy about what had been going on lately with EBA continuing their dominance over Japan, and Ouen doing nothing more than stopping Noble from brashly bullying them around.

"**Are you certain that's what happened?**" Hayato mutters after a while.

"**We try to combat those Western Ouendan and put an end to their cynical tyranny,**" Rin exclaims, "**But each time we confront them, the Ouendan living in Yuhi show up and tell us to go away! It's like they have absolutely no clue just how backstabbing these American dancers are!**"

"**That runt member of theirs is especially tenacious,**" Kaoru said barely showing any sign of stress or worry, "**When we used our spirits to put two of the Western Ouendan in their places, he jumps in front of them and tackles our transferring souls, clinging to them with all his sanely might and refusing to return it until we left.**"

Hayato growls in frustration, slamming the side of his fist against the corner wall of the living room, "**I can't believe how utterly stupid those Yuhi Ouendan are, letting those...imitators go about Tokyo like they have a right to be involved in our business!**"

"**It's just one side of the city,**" Shinta said, "**The Agents wouldn't think about coming here after what happened the other day.**"

"**Why do you keep defending them, Kikuchi-san!?**" Reika exclaims, "**Did you forget what they did to you during our first week here when they stole your chance of asserting yourself!?**"

"**What they did was an accident; they didn't even know we were still settling in Asahi Town until after Senpai threw his weight onto them. Besides, don't you think Ouen would've known what's going on and why everyone's upset about it?**"

"**They claim like they know everything, but they're just as oblivious as everyone else!**" Rin protests, "**They treat insults like compliments and act like they don't even care if they're crushed by the competition infesting their side of town.**"

"**But what if they had a reason for not doing something about it? If we just talk to them instead of thinking they're as inobservant as the rest of the world, we would've known why they haven't pushed their weight around to stop the Agents from doing more than explore the sights of Yuhi.**"

Tsuyoshi and Kenshin glare at Shinta before turning their focus to Hayato.

"**Kikuchi-sama has clearly been traumatized by those Western Ouendan ever since they took him overseas!**" Tsuyoshi said.

"What!?" Shinta nearly cries, snapping a horrified glance at Tsuyoshi.

"**That's right,**" Kenshin said, "**Kikuchi-sama was weakened during that time. They could've taken advantage of him and forced him to treat them with respect regardless of what they did to push us to the brink of retirement!**"

Shinta shoots a glance over to Hayato, "**You know that's not true, Senpai! You saw what happened the other day! Even if I was scared out of my mind, they wouldn't push me around just so they can invite me to have lunch with them in their holodeck!**"

"**I don't care if they used a decent conversation to gain your trust!**" Hayato growls, turning to face the squad, "**Those Western Ouendan tangoed all over our squad and made us look like Average Joes! And our rivals are doing nothing but chase us away each time we try to break up their little parade!**"

"**Then we separate them,**" Kaoru said, "**Tear them from Ouen's grasp and drag them someplace where we will have rein over them.**"

"**That's easier said than done!**" Tsuyoshi yelps, "**Our rivals know both Yuhi and Asahi Town like the bones in their body. It'll take no more than a few minutes for them to come and stop us!**"

"**They may know their way around land,**" Hayato said, "**But it's going to take more than just a range of spirit to find someone out in the middle of the ocean.**" He turns his back on the squad, "**There's only one person that I want vengeance for. And I'm going to make sure he gets it next time he wanders into Asahi Town.**" He then walks away from the group, leaving them to meddle in their own thoughts.

* * *

That afternoon, in a construction sight deep within Asahi Town, a young man sits on one of the metal beams used to structure and fortify a building. He had wild, brown hair and wore a black vest over a red, long sleeve shirt, and black pants.

He sighs as he pulls out his cell phone and flips it open, revealing a young, beautiful girl with brown, straight hair, throwing up a peace sign.

"**She's so cute...**" Ookami Goro sighs again, "**But...**"

"**What's wrong, Ikemen?**" asks a voice. Goro turns to see an old man, wearing a hardhat and green jacket over a white shirt, pull a towel around his neck.

"**Master!**" Goro yelps.

"**Fool! Why are you sighing?**" Goro's master asks again as he pulls his hardhat off, revealing his bald, round head. Upon gazing into its shape, Goro freaks out.

"GYAAAH!!" he howls.

"**Hey, hey!**" the master mutters nervously, oblivious to his head giving off eerie, hypnotic waves, "**What's with the loud voice!?**"

"GYAAAAAAAH!! **SO ROUND!!**" Goro howls again, his eyes swirling as his body undergoes a transformation, "**PERFECTLY ROUND!!**"

"Ikemen!" the master shouts.

* * *

"WAAAAAAAAH!! Don't let go of me, Jonouchi!" Aoi squeals as she clutches tightly onto J's hands.

"Come on, Aoi, it's not that bad," J chuckles as he glides the young Cheer Girl along the ice of an indoor ice rink. Aoi whimpers as she stays crouched to the ground, her legs shaking from the slickness of the ice.

"You're such a crybaby, Aoi," Anna giggles as she skates past the two, "One fall and you're already scared of a little ice skating?" she giggles again before moving a few feet ahead of the two, bringing her right leg over her head and grabbing the blades with her hands. With one twist of her body, she spins like a top before sliding backwards with her raised leg stretched out behind her.

"You're so mean, Anna-chan!" Aoi cries, "Showing off like that when I can't even stand up!"

"I just thought I'd encourage you to move forward, Aoi," Anna laughs, "Don't feel bad if I hurt your feelings."

Hajime skates over to the conversation, a pair of red earmuffs, with the Ouen emblem on each cuff, replacing his hat.

"You want real encouragement," he asks, thumbing behind him, "Check out the fiasco going on the other side of the rink."

J, Aoi and Anna glance to where Hajime points, seeing Foxx struggling to pull an equally terrified Ittetsu across the makeshift slab of ice, his butt no more than a foot off the ground.

"Geez, you're worse than Aoi," Foxx grunts, "And you haven't even fallen over!"

"I never skate before!" Ittetsu whimpers.

"Well, it helps if you at least stand up when you're two feet from the wall!"

"Utterly pathetic," Kai snorts, sitting outside the rink with his back turned to the two cheerleaders, "You can withstand a lot worse than a scrape on the ice, and you are still shaking in your skates?"

Ittetsu shoots a glare over to Kai, "Oh yeah!? So why you not out here!?"

"Mind you, I think the rest of the people on this rink would be a lot happy if they had more than five seconds to play on the ice before Mr. Doumeki decides to step out." Morris mutters as he stands a few feet from Foxx and Ittetsu.

"I glance for a split second and I'm already feelin' sorry for those two," J chuckles.

"EEEEEEEE!! Jonouchi, watch out!" Aoi screams. J was about to ask why before he felt his back bumped into something that not only stopped him from gliding back, but also knocked it to the floor with a startled squeal.

Everyone clambers over to the accident, seeing Reika flat on her face with Tsuyoshi and Shinta standing beside her, all three bearing startled looks. J stares at his mistake with a bead of sweat sliding down the side of his face.

"Um...whoops..." he mutters. Foxx skates over to Reika and stoops over her, placing her hands on her knees.

"Hey! You okay?" She asked, extending her hand. Reika growls as she sits up and smacks Foxx's hand away.

"Do not play innocent with me!" she yells, "You did that on purpose just to make us look stupid!"

"Reika-chan!" Shinta exclaims.

"Don't yell at him, you meanie!" Aoi shouts, grappling J to keep from falling down, "He didn't mean to run into you like that!"

"Yes he did!" Tsuyoshi exclaims, pointing at J, "I heard you warn him and he didn't even bother turning around to see her! That just shows how selfish these Western Ouendan are!"

"You're anger is getting in the way of your judgment," Anna snorts, crossing her arms, "If you'd just stop and think for a moment, you'll know just how accidental that fiasco was."

"You be quiet, Ouen!" Reika exclaims, getting up, "You have absolutely no clue just how ruthless these Ouendan are! And rather than open your eyes and see the truth, you continue to stand by their side as though they were the most generous people on the planet!"

"Uh, guys..." Morris mutters, trying to break up the conversation.

"If you had been here four years earlier, you would've known why we trust the Agents so much!" Aoi exclaims.

"We don't need to meet them four years earlier to know just how backstabbing these Ouendan can be!" Tsuyoshi exclaims back, "You weren't even there when they stole both of our jobs and acted like it was nothing to them!"

"We already told you, it was an accident!" Foxx retorts, "Do you even know what that means in Japanese!?"

"What you did was no accident!" Reika snaps, "We know your only reason for coming here was to make the Japanese think you are more reliable than those who have saved them from depression for many years!"

The squabble comes to a screeching halt when they heard a loud cough echo throughout the rink. Turning to the stadium, they see Kai standing on the other side of the rails with his arms crossed.

"I hate to break up this catfight," he said, eyeing away from the group, "But if you do not stop your friend from colliding with the nearby wall, she will not be leaving this rink with ice shavings on her dress."

The familiar group stares at Kai before following his glance, catching sight of Honoka careening down the rink, screaming and flapping her arms in hysteria. The Noble had apparently been helping her get used to the ice before J's accidental intrusion.

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIKAAAAAAAAAAA-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!" she shrieks, spilling tears of fright. Reika panics, about to chase after her when she saw Honoka slam into a pair of hands.

"Whoa! Rough catch!" yelps a voice. Everyone looks past Honoka to see Derek pull her into an upright position, "You okay there, Missy?"

"Uh..." Honoka mutters, her cheek flushing a beet red. Reika and Shinta rush over to them, taking Honoka off Derek's hand and pulling her towards the exit of the rink. She continues to stare at Derek as he cocks his head to one side, then skates off.

Once outside the rink, the two sat Honoka on a nearby bench, Reika placing both hands on her shoulder. J, Morris and Hajime skate over to the walls to see what'll happen next.

"**Honoka-chan! Are you okay?**" she asks. Honoka remained still, staring ahead as though she were in shock.

"Ta..." she mutters before throwing her hands on her cheek, her eyes sparkling as her face turned a darker shade of red, "TANSEI!!"

"Tansei!?" Reika and Shinta squeaked in befuddlement.

"Did she call Derek handsome?" Morris cringes.

"Looks like Derek's got an admirer," Hajime said, placing his hands behind his back.

"I don't know whether I should be grateful or sorry that he's about to enter a Romeo and Juliet moment," J chuckles.

* * *

Goro skulks along the empty park that night with his boss and master walking beside him.

"**I see...so you're a werewolf,**" the master said, crossing his arms in thought.

"**That's right...**" Goro mutters, "**I'm finally going on a date with my darling, Kumi-chan.**" He begins to sulk, "**But if she finds out I'm a werewolf...**"

"BAKAYARO!!" the master yells, turning to face Goro, "**You're still a man, just hairier!**" he raises his head high, looking like a perfectly round sphere, "**If you like Kumi-chan, you'll persevere!**"

Hypnotic waves emitted from the master's head, causing Goro's eyes to swirl as fur began to well around his body.

"GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" He howls, "**Round things...no good! But I wanna be with her!** **I wanna confess!**"

As fur continues to grow around his body, he began uttering, "Ou...Ou..." until he finally transforms into a werewolf, howling ferociously.

_**OUENDRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOON!!**_

End Notes:

1. "Ikeman" is a rough translation for "cool man"  
2. "Bakayaro" is an extended version of "baka", meaning "idiot" or "fool".


	10. Episode 10: All Means Necessary

Episode 10: All Means Necessary

The next morning, Goro skulks into the park, his master walking along side him.

"**Get a hold of yourself, Ikemen!**" the short, bald man shouts, slapping Goro on the back, "**You'll never be able to make your commitment if you keep drooping like a blood-hound!**"

Goro whimpers before catching sight of someone standing near the center of the path, sighing contently as she stares at the beams of light seeping through the gaps in the trees. It only took a second for the two to recognize her as the girl Goro had been wanting to date for the longest time.

The master moans as a drop of saliva escapes the corner of his mouth, "**How I envy you...**" Goro gulps nervously as he gaits over to the girl, pressing his index fingers together.

The girl hears his footsteps and glances over to him, smiling warmly as she brings her bag in front of her.

"**Hello, Goro-san,**" she giggles, "**I made you a bento.**"

Steam shot out of Goro's ears as he jitters anxiously.

"**I have to make this date successful!**" he whimpers again.

_Hey DJ kamase  
Yeah Yeah Yeah  
__kibun joujou no  
Hari otose oto nara se PAARINAI  
Nomo urai-rai-rai  
__minna de odore!  
Hip-Pop PIIPOO  
Kakete yo MIRAKURU Number_

From the bushes pops the Noble Cheer Girls, shouting "GO" in place of Noble's traditional shout, "OSU". Upon hearing their call, Goro howls in lust, taking one of Kumi's arms into his.

"**Let's go!**" he says excitedly, "**I wanna find a nice place to sit and enjoy the lunch you made me!**" Kumi giggles sheepishly as they stroll along the stone path of the park. The Noble Girls keep their positions, performing a cheer similar to that of the Ouen Cheer Girls.

_Yo! Konna jidai ni wakachi au MUSIC  
Sagashitakute mawasu chikyuugi  
Gura tsuku fuantei seikatsu  
Sore dakara BARANSU juushi  
Yoi koto bakari ja nai kara "Ganbareru!"  
Saiaku na hi ni kikku  
Saikidou no botan kurikku!  
DJ kakete!! Ima TRIP_

While strolling through the park, the two notice some bubbles floating around the area. While Kumi stares at them in wonder and interest, Goro fidgets uncomfortably, trying desperately to avoid gazing into the perfectly round suds. His master hides in the bushes, watching in annoyance as his underling was paying more attention to hiding his true identity than he is putting his arms around the girl he loves.

After what seemed like hours, the bubbles slowly stopped blocking their paths. Goro sighs with relief as he scurries over to Kumi and continues to stand by her side, the two pressing their fingers together as hearts flew from around them. The master, happy to see Goro finally suppress his fuzzy identity and continuing his devotion to Kumi, roots quietly from his place behind the wall of bushes.

_Shareteru BIITO ni notte_

Finding a spot deep within the park, Goro sits down and wipes the sweat from his face. Kumi sits beside him as she opens the bento and sticks it on his lap.

"**Eat it quickly,**" she suggests. Goro glances down at the oval-shaped bento, seeing a divider down the center, the left full of vegetables and the right full of steamed rice. His eyes suddenly fix onto a hard-boiled egg, it's yolk round and mesmerizing.

_Kanjiru karada yurasou yo_

He cries out in fright as the yolk began giving off hypnotic waves. Fur slowly began to break through his skin as his face turns into a dog-like figure. He quickly grabs the chopsticks beside the bento and attacks the yolk, cramming it into his mouth, eventually retaining his human form.

"**Delicious! It's delicious, Kumi-chan!**" he shouts as he devours more of the food.

"**I'm so happy you're enjoying it, Goro-san!**" Kumi giggles happily.

"**Nice going, Ikemen!**" the master shouts from behind the bushes.

The Cheer Girls watch from a distance, smiling at their first accomplishment. Honoka, on the other hand, stares at Kumi's gesture towards Goro, her cheeks flushing as her eyes sparkled. She literally imagined her presenting a bento to Derek, seeing him smile handsomely while taking a bit out of one of the servings.

"Dreamy..." she mutters to herself.

Goro looks over to Kumi after finishing the lunch she made him, "**So, where to now, Kumi-chan?**"

Kumi immediately throws a baseball cap on and holds up a pamphlet, "**Let's go to the baseball stadium!**" Goro mentally flinches upon hearing Kumi's request. The last thing he needed was to take her somewhere that could bring out the beast within him faster than an umpire shouts "out".

The Noble Girls spring up from behind the bushes near the master, shouting "GO" again. Goro immediately jumps up and pulls Kumi into his arms.

"**Baseball it is!**" he shouts joyously, "**Maybe we'll catch a ball and get it autographed by your favorite player!**"

_Hey DJ kamase  
Yeah Yeah Yeah  
__kibun joujou no  
Hari otose oto nara se PAARINAI  
_

Goro began to regret agreeing to Kumi's decision to go to the baseball field. Not only were the balls a deathtrap towards his maintaining his date, but most of the kids attending the event were passing by him with perfectly round balloons. He spent most of the time covering his eyes to avoid giving signs that he was more than just a human.

Kumi, meanwhile, remains oblivious to Goro's dilemma, tapping her megaphone on her hand as she watches the first half of the game take off. Goro's master, on the other hand, continues to watch him nervously, wondering what's going to happen that will further botch up his chances of making a commitment to his girlfriend.

_Nomo urai-rai-rai  
__minna de odore!  
Hip-Pop PIIPOO  
Kakete yo MIRAKURU Number_

In an attempt to get his mind off the whole sight of round objects, Goro places his arm around Kumi and pulls her into a warming hug. Blushing slightly, the two glance towards each other, paying little attention to the game and more on themselves.

The moment didn't last long, however, as a crack suddenly grabs their attention. One of the batters has hit a foul ball, sending it careening towards them at breakneck speed.

"**A foul ball is heading towards the guest seats!**" the announcer shouts.

The flying ball began giving off hypnotic waves, causing Goro to undergo another bout of keeping his inner beast from breaking free.

"**Watch out!**" he quickly shouts, shoving Kumi's head down and grabbing the baseball within his slowly sharpening fangs. Kumi gasps in shock before glancing over to Goro, seeing him twitching on his back as he holds the ball in his mouth.

"**Goro-san!**" she cries before smiling with relief, "**Thank you!**"

Honoka mentally squeals as she watches the save unfold. She pictures her and Derek at a baseball game, too busy staring lovingly at each other to pay attention. Suddenly, a foul ball is hit, flying towards her. Derek bravely places his hand on her shoulder and pulls her towards him, using his other hand to catch the ball before it hit her.

"So brave..." she mutters to herself again.

Kumi pulls Goro back onto the bench, pulls the ball out of his mouth and dusts him off as he was slowly regaining his senses.

"**Let's go for a walk after the game,**" she says sheepishly.

"**Er...okay...**" Goro mutters, half-dazed, half-nervous.

Honoka, once again, mentally squeals at Kumi's suggestion, picturing her and Derek walking along a beautiful park full of cherry blossoms and the golden glow of the setting sun. Invigorated by the thought, she jumps up with the rest of the Noble Girls, shouting "GO" to rekindle Goro's ambition; Honoka's being the loudest and most enthusiastic.

_Hip Hop, R&B, Pops Techno, House, Rock...  
Hip Pop!!  
ORIJINARU sagasu KIIPOINTO  
Sorezore no iro kasane awasu REINBOO  
Kimi ni kikasetai ga tame  
Kurushimu ageku no hate  
Juu ji katame  
Ima wo tanoshimitain da ne  
Let's Hip Pop!!  
Here we, Here we Go!!_

The two strolled through the same park they met up in for a couple of hours before sitting down on one of the benches in the area and taking a break to watch the setting sun. Because the sun had already sunk halfway into the horizon, Goro wasn't worried about undergoing a transformation from staring at it for long hours.

_Hashagu FUROA no ue  
Ataman naka yusa yusaburu_

Kumi then turns her attention to a couple of cats that had strolled towards her with curious looks on their faces. Giggling, she leans over and places her hand in front of them, allowing them to sniff her fingers. Goro turns to look at her only to see a young girl walk by him with three perfectly round balloons, reenacting the fiasco back at the baseball field.

He panics and threw his hands over his eyes to avoid being pulled into their hypnotic trance and tempting his beastly side to break free from its confinement within his body. Kumi eventually lets the two cats cuddle with each other as she turns her attention back to Goro, seeing him drop his hands and sigh with relief.

Giggling, Kumi places her arms around him, causing his heart to race with passion rather than fear. Sighing with love, he glances over to her and places his arm around her shoulders, the two once again staring longingly into each other's eyes.

_Hey DJ kamase  
Yeah Yeah Yeah  
__kibun joujou no  
Hari otose oto nara se PAARINAI  
Nomo urai-rai-rai  
__minna de odore!  
Hip-Pop PIIPOO  
Kakete yo MIRAKURU Number_

"**It's almost time to go,**" Kumi sighs sorrowfully, "**But...**"

"**Y-yeah?**" Goro mutters, his heart throbbing loudly as he watches Kumi bashfully bring her hand towards her hair.

"**It was fun...**" Kumi asks, brushing her hair away to reveal a large, round pearl, "**Wasn't it?**"

Goro accidentally gazes into the pearl, causing him to almost transform into his werewolf form. He tries to hide his dilemma by shouting, "**Kumi-chan, you're very beautiful!**"

Kumi threw her hands onto her cheeks, covering her pearl earrings as she blushes sheepishly.

"Eh!? **That's so sudden...**" she gasps, "**But thank you.**"

_MIRAABOORU  
SUMOOKU no nioi  
Tokeru you na HAAMONII  
Mi ni matotte odori akasu  
Gamushara na mama de_

Goro offers to escort Kumi home for the night. The path they crossed had little problem keeping the two separated. And as they drew closer to the end of the path, their love for each other became stronger than before. Goro's master continues to stay in the background, rooting the entire time.

_Hey DJ shashare  
Yeah yeah yeah  
__kibun joujou no  
Nami ni notte hajike tobe FANKIINAI  
Nomo urai-rai-rai  
__minna de odore!  
Hip-Pop PIIPOO  
Asa made MIRAKURU Number_

Nearing the end of the park, Goro turns around and places his hands on Kumi's shoulders.

"Kumi-chan!" he shouts, preparing to admit his love for her.

"Goro-san..." Kumi says back, staring into his eyes. Goro was unaware of how round Kumi's eyes were until he looked straight into them. He howls in fright as his body began to transform.

"GUWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" he howls, "**Round! But I want to convey my feelings to her!**"

Kumi watches in shock as Goro transforms into a werewolf, tearing his shirt to shreds.

"**Kumi-chan! I'm a werewolf!**" he exclaims, "**But...I like you a lot!**"

Kumi continues to stare at Goro in shock before her eyes well up in happiness.

"**I love dogs!**" she squeals as she kisses the now fuzzy Goro on the cheek.

"**Everything has gone smoothly!**" the master shouts with joy as he watches his pupil howl gracefully at the full moon.

* * *

Early the next morning, Honoka strolls along the half busy town of Yuhi, thinking about Goro's devotion towards the love of his life. She clutches her blue umbrella as the day had been cursed with an annoying downpour.

"**So romantic,**" she mutters to herself. She then glances across the street, catching sight of Derek walking along the opposite sidewalk with Foxx, Kai, Atsushi, and Aoi. Her gaze immediately fixes on Derek, causing her to blush madly while bringing her knees together and placing her hands on her cheeks, "**He's here! The handsome man who rescued me from impending doom! Oh, how I want to convey MY feelings to him!**"

She then remembers the moment where Kumi hands Goro a bento as a show of affection, imagining her doing the same...except without the whole werewolf transformation fiasco. Her cheeks darken as she tightens the sandwiching pressure of her hands.

"**I gotta find a bento and give it to him! To my love!**" she squeals, rushing into a nearby food market. After searching for a minute, she comes across an aisle of bento, all labeled with different assortments.

Honoka hurriedly skips through the aisle, glancing at each box, "**What to get, what to get!**" she yells and flails her arms in frustration, "**I don't know what my love likes! What'll I do!?**"

She then spots some red bento further down the aisle with the words "Mystery Box" labeled below them. Honoka claps her hands together in excitement and relief before rushing over to the aisle and picking up one of the red boxes, "**Yes! There has to be something in this box that will please my love!**"

Not wasting a moment, she scrambles over to the checkout stand to pay for the bento.

* * *

"Ah, man! This sucks!" J grumbles as he skulks along the outskirts of Yuhi Town, carrying an open, black umbrella in one hand and a red bento in the other, "I was hoping to have a decent picnic out in Yuhi Park!"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Hajime said, carrying another black umbrella, "The weather report said it'll clear up by this afternoon."

"I hope so," J waves the red bento in his hand, "I was really hoping to try this spicy rice and chicken bento Starr got from an online cooking site."

Hajime eyes J, grinning cockily, "Well, let's look at it this way. If it's too spicy, there'd be plenty of water for you to drink." J glares at him, half annoyed.

"Oh, har," he grumbled. He looks down at the bento again, "Then again, if it is as spicy as Starr claims it is, there'd better be some bread packed in this box somewhere. 'Cause I'm not spending the whole day with a flaming tongue."

As they were nearing an ally, Hajime notices Shinta standing in front of an open orange box, holding his blue umbrella over a shadowy figure. Upon closer inspection, he sees a yellow tabby sitting inside the box, glancing towards him in a curious manner.

Shinta chuckles a bit as he holds out his hand, letting the tabby sniff and place its paw into it. Hajime continues to glance as he passes by seconds before he hears two collisions and a pair of yelps. He snaps his head in front of him to see J and Honoka crumbled to a sitting position; their umbrellas and bento spilled around them.

Honoka quickly jumps to her feet, grabs one of the red bento and scrambles past J, "Gomen!" she nearly brushes past Hajime while continuing down the sidewalk.

The rookie Ouen glances another second before walking over to J and helping him up, "You okay?"

"I'm soaked," J grumbles, "But all right." He gathers his umbrella and red bento, "Luckily this bento didn't splatter all over the ground."

"I think you should eat that before someone else carelessly slams into you."

"No need to tell me twice," J pulls the red cloth off and opens the box, frowning as he looks inside, "What the...!? This isn't mine!"

Hajime blinks as he walks over to J and glances at the bento. It had a divider down the middle, separating some shrimp chow mien from a pile of sliced fish.

"We'd better stop her and tell her she took your bento by mistake," Hajime said. The two turned around to realize that Honoka had already disappeared through the maze of corners. J glances down at the bento he accidentally swapped.

"What kind of fish is this anyway?" he asked, picking up a piece of sliced fish between the chopsticks provided in the bento. Hajime looks back over to J, seeing him stick the fish in his mouth and chew on it.

"Are you sure you should be eating that?" he asked, "It's not even yours!"

"Don't worry, Haji. I doubt she'll know there'd be one less fish in this box." J chews a couple more seconds before swallowing, "Tastes bitter. It could use salt."

Hajime snatches the bento before he took another glance at it, "Save your culinary ideas for your own box." He sticks the lid back on and ties the red cloth around it, "The last thing she needs is someone tampering with her bento more than it shows." J pouts jokingly as the two turned and head towards Asahi Town, assuming Honoka was heading towards it.

As they cross the bridge and head into Asahi Town, Hajime heard labored breathing and looks over to see J skulking and shaking slightly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"I guess not..." J pants, "I don't know why...but my chest feels funny...like I'm about ready to lose my breakfast." Hajime looks down at the bento in his hand and pulls the cloth off, opening the box and looking at the sliced fish section again.

"This side of the bento looks like it's been filled with fugu," he mutters after a while.

"Fugu...?" J mutters, "Aren't those made from puffer fish?"

"This must be one of those mystery bento I heard about on TV. The kind where you won't know what's inside 'til you open the box."

"And fugu is one of those mystery bento? Is that even legal?"

"If it is, the manufacturer should start putting warning signs on these boxes incase someone does get a bento full of fugu." Hajime shuts the box and ties the red cloth back around it, "But let's worry about that later. You need to get to a hospital before you wind up dying from its poisoning chemicals."

"Hate to say 'you're too late', but I don't think I can move another step," J mutters. Hajime turns around to see him in a slumped sitting position against the wall of a nearby building with his umbrella rolling beside him, his breathing worsening.

"Jonouchi, what's wrong!?" Hajime yelps as he bends down towards J, holding the umbrella between them.

"I think the poison's already spreading through my systems," J mutters, "The entire area's starting to spin...and my body's gone completely numb."

Hajime compresses his lips as he takes J's arm and pulls it behind his neck, "We're almost to the hospital. Try to hang on a while longer." J didn't respond, most likely due to the paralyzing effects of the fugu. Straightening out the arm behind his neck, he trudges through the soaked sidewalk of Asahi, keeping the umbrella over him and the BA-2 Agent.

Just as they reach the wharf at the southern outskirts of Asahi Town, they almost run into Hayato walking along the soaked docks, holding a blue umbrella over his head. The Noble leader stares at Hajime, who returns the gesture with a slightly suspicious frown, then J, who doesn't even give any sign of acknowledgement.

Hajime's frown tightens slightly as he readjusts J's arm around the back of his neck, "**Excuse me, we're in a hurry.**" He moves around Hayato only to feel his hand snag him by the throat and shove him back, forcing him to drop J, his umbrella and the bento they were attempting to return to Honoka. Hajime chokes as he grabs the wrist connected to the hand, struggling to pull free as he tries to breathe through his momentarily squeezed windpipe.

"It's ironic that a runt like you could take the full force of three enraged spirits and still have the dignity to boast about the experience," Hayato said, tightening his grip on Hajime's throat while forcing him to a kneeling position, watching as he shuts one eye from the pain and lack of air, "But when it comes to physical contact, you're nothing more than some inferior cub that should be put in his place."

"_W...wait..._" slurs a voice. Hayato snaps his head towards the source to see J laying in a twisted, sideways position, on the ground near Hajime, "_I...I know...I'm the reason...you're upset... Please...let him go...and take me instead..._"

"Jonouchi...!" Hajime wheezed.

"_It's okay...Haji... As long...as they have me...they won't have a...a reason...to keep...pushing you around..._"

"That so, is it?" Hayato snorts turning his gaze back to Hajime, "You really think that by willingly handing yourself over to the squad, this runt would be of little concern to us?" He then pulls his arm back and shoves Hajime, hard, off the docks and into the swelling ocean below.

Hajime's hat emerged on the surface seconds before he came up, struggling to breathe through the frigidness of the currents splashing against his face. He glares at Hayato standing near the edge of the docks and holding J under his arm like a throw rug. Hajime grits his teeth a minute before feeling the storm swelling current tremble from the sound of a loud, tooting horn. Before he could look to the source, the Asahi Sunrise III houseboat sped into his viewpoint, blocking out any activity on the docks.

It took another minute before Hayato appeared on the front deck of the houseboat, staring down at Hajime struggling to keep his head out of the frigid ocean, the effort worsened by the oncoming windstorm dropping the temperature even lower. Despite shivering from both tormenting environments, the rookie Ouen maintains his weary expression, watching the Noble leader twitch a snide frown before turning and heading deeper into the houseboat.

Moments after Hayato disappeared from sight, the window above Hajime flies open as a life ring jumps out and lands around him, sending more water into his face. While shaking off the water, the rope attached to the ring jolts, whacking him as it moves for the boat.

Hajime grunts, trying to pull the ring off him. But the frigid temperature of the water and wind left him with barely enough strength to stay afloat as he was forcefully pulled towards the boat, out of the storm driven ocean and into the window it was first thrown out of, landing flat on his side in a dark room.

Tsuyoshi and Kenshin stoop over his viewpoint, watching him just lay limp on his side, gasping and shivering violently, and almost seeming to be on the brink of death. The two bent down to Hajime, Tsuyoshi pulling the ring off while Kenshin pulls the rookie under his arms and carries him out of the room.

* * *

Honoka continues to race through the soaked streets of Yuhi Town, darting looks left and right before seeing the familiar group about to enter a fitness center. She squeals before scrambling towards them.

"TANSEI!!" she squeals, catching the groups attention as they turn to face her. She plows through Foxx and Aoi, almost knocking them to the floor, before stopping in front of Derek. Her eyes sparkled upon seeing his face as her own flushed, "I finally found you!"

Kai and Atsushi stare at each other on confusion as Honoka shoves the red bento towards Derek, blushing deeper, "Here! I buy for you!"

"Wow, thanks," Derek said, surprisingly calm as he takes the bento from Honoka's hand, "What is it?"

"Mystery bento," Honoka mutters, twiddling her fingers shyly, "Please excuse. I no-no what tansei like." Derek stares at the bento some more before pulling the cloth off and opening the box, seeing chicken wings drowned in wasabi and spicy honey sauce fill the inside.

"Wow, those look like the super spicy chicken wings Starr got off the internet," Foxx mutters.

"Really? Let me try!" Aoi pipes up, grabbing one of the chicken wings and chomping down on it. The second she swallowed the bite, her entire body turns blood red with her pigtails wiggling like snakes after biting an electric fence. Foxx, Kai and Atsushi sweatdrop as they took one giant step back

"Hey!" Honoka screams, snatching the wing from a slowly boiling Aoi, "This for tansei! You no touch!"

"Too...late..." Aoi squeaks before stiffening up and screaming a breath of fire towards the bento in Derek's hand. The red afro Agent leans back a bit to avoid getting singed, feeling the box and wings turn to ash and melt off his hands.

Honoka screams in horror as she sees black soot pour into a pile at Derek's feet. Aoi stares in shock before placing a finger on her cheek.

"Eep! My bad!" she mutters nervously. Honoka trembles in sorrow before getting into the young Cheer Girl's face.

"Meanie! You pay for ruin tansei lunch!" she screams before turning around and running away from the group, crying fountains of agonizing tears. Everyone stared at what happened in surprise before focusing on the pile of soot in front of them.

"I suggest we do not make this bento again," Kai said.

"I second that suggestion," Foxx mutters with another sweatdrop on the side of her head.

* * *

Hajime laid in a sleeping futon with a blue, white-bordered blanket covering him from the neck down. He continues to shiver from the slowly oncoming hypothermia, but not as violent as before, and his breathing slowed to heavy breaths.

A few hours after being thrown to the mat and covered by a blanket, he heard the door slide open. Hajime opens his eyes halfway, turning them towards the source to see Hayato standing in the doorframe, still holding J under his arm. The BA-2 Agent paled worse than the Ouen rookie, almost thought to be dead if not for the low flickering spirit struggling to stay lit.

"So the runt still has some fight left," Hayato snorts, walking to a sleeping futon next to Hajime and dropping J in a sideways twist on top of it, "When Moriyama and Sugita told me you were shivering like a bag of jumping beans, I assumed you would be halfway to dead."

"You already got what you wanted..." Hajime mutters weakly, "Why all of a sudden drag me into your stupid vendetta..."

"Honestly; surrender himself just so you can go running back to those Western Ouendan's high-tech hideout, inform them of his location and send them to get him back? Does he really think I would be stupid enough to fall for a trick like that?"

"Keeping me here isn't going to make hiding him any easier..."

"I'm well aware of anything that could reveal his location," Hayato pulls out J's wallet and flips it open, revealing his license and badge, "His license; his microphone; you. I may not be well versed in what they use to run their business, but that doesn't mean I won't take whatever's viable to assure complete success in our goal of making a names for ourselves in this town."

He brought his foot over to a nightstand near the bed of the current occupant's room, drags a plastic barrel towards him, and drops J's license into it with a barely registered clang and rattle noise, indicating his microphone is already inside, "A smart runt like you should know what happens when a homing device is buried under a barrel of magnets." Hajime grits his teeth in frustration as Hayato reaches into his pocket and pulls out a Ziploc bag full of magnets, "It disorients its signal, weakening it and distracting all radars programmed to track its frequency."

Hayato pulls the bag open and pours the magnets into the barrel, creating a flood of rattling noises that lasted nearly three seconds before the last magnet landed into the near full interior, "It's sad, really. If you had just stayed out of our business, we wouldn't have to put up with your hot-blooded spirit burning up our boat. But you refused to understand why we want to get rid of those Western Ouendan, completely insistent on believing they've done nothing wrong and blaming us for trying to force our dominance over them. Now you left us with no choice but to use extreme measures to ensure the survival of our squadron."

"You know why we didn't stop EBA from getting involved in our affairs..." Hajime growled, "You're just denying because you're afraid you'll admit you're just as undependable as Ouen and EBA..."

Hayato wrinkles his nose as he kicks the barrel against the wall of the room, "I don't care what happens to that petty squad of yours! All I care about is putting our squad on the map and destroying any opposition that tries to tear it down!" He turns sharply and walks out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

End Notes:

Yes, I know there's an opening in the werewolf scenario where the Noble walked their dog in the middle of the night. I just couldn't find someway of fitting it into this episode.


	11. Episode 11: Prisoner by Generosity

Episode 11: Prisoner by Generosity

The rain eventually dies off as the clouds evaporate to reveal the warm rays of the late afternoon sun. Shinta blinks when he felt his umbrella stop trembling from the noise of the drops hitting its slippery, blue fabric. He sighs a bit in relief as he pulls the umbrella closed and continues through the docks, trying to locate the houseboat, which had become his second home since his departure from his old hometown of Okinawa.

He heard meowing from the edge of the docks. Looking down, he saw the yellow cat he found in the ally in Yuhi Town bending down towards the ocean, pawing at something. Curious, he gaits over to the edge and looks down, seeing a black officer's hat banging against one of the pillars holding the dock up.

"**That's...**" Shinta mutters as he reaches down and pulls the hat out of the slowly taming water. A gold pin in the shape of the Ouen Squad symbol hung over the visor of the hat, glistening in the ray of the recently released sun.

Shinta frowns a bit, remembering Hajime being one of two members to wear a hat in place of a bandana. He most likely lost it during the peak of the storm when the wind started to build up. Shaking some excess water from its rim, he heads into the houseboat, deciding to hold onto it until morning when the city isn't soaking wet.

The inside of the houseboat was eerily vacant, save a few Noble spirits wandering around, all of which seeming uptight about Ouen and EBA. Having gotten used to their hatred to the two squads, Shinta decides not to ask questions and heads to the lower deck to the corridors where the Noble Squad slept. He stops at the first door on the left, pushing it open to find the outside light slowly dimming from the sun sinking into the ocean.

Aside from his usual sights, his three-foot, twin-size bed against the wall, the head facing the window, a nightstand at the foot of the bed, and a closet on the adjacent wall, there were two shadows taking up most of the floor. His confused frown increases as he reaches over and flips on a light switch beside him, illuminating the room with a bright light.

Not long after the room burst with light, Shinta's eyes widen in shock, seeing J and Hajime laying on white futons with blankets covering their bodies. Hajime grunts and squeezes his eyes shut to block out the blinding light, his skin no longer pale and his shivering had stopped.

"Haji-kun! What happen!?" Shinta yelps as he rushes up beside where J slept, crouching down for a closer look at the two. Hajime opens his eyes halfway, still trying to adjust to the blinding degree of light in the room.

"Can't really explain..." he mutters, half consciously, "This isn't out of pure generosity...that's for sure..."

"Pure?" Shinta mutters. Hajime remains silent a minute before turning his head towards the Noble rookie, straining a weak smirk.

"I figured you would still be in Yuhi, tending to the cat you found in the ally..." he mutters. Shinta furrows his eyebrows at the Ouen rookie's sudden change in subject. Whatever was going on that led to this scenario, he clearly didn't want to explain.

"KIKUCHI-SAMA!!" shrills a voice. Shinta nearly jumps as he whips around to see Tsuyoshi barge into the room with the yellow tabby clinging to his bald head, purring and rubbing his cheek along its smooth surface, "**What is this cat doing here!? And don't you dare claim it followed you home, because I can sense your affection burning all over it!**"

"**I couldn't just leave him in that ally!**" Shinta retorts, "**I had to do something!**"

"**Chii! Maybe if you used an aftershave that didn't smell like fish, you wouldn't have a living toupee coddling your head...**" Hajime snorts snidely as he turns to face the ceiling. Tsuyoshi shoots a glare and an aggravated finger towards him.

"Kisama!" he growls, "We saved you from drowning in that storm and this is how you repay us!?"

Hajime snorts again and turns his head away from the conscious party, "Was that before or after you shoved me off the docks?"

"Wh-what!?" Shinta nearly exclaims, shooting a glance towards Tsuyoshi, "Is this true, Moriyama-san!? Did you shove Haji-kun off dock just so you have reason to keep him here!?"

"I call it an eye for an eye!" Tsuyoshi exclaims, "Since they pulled the same stunt on you just so they can make you respect and worship them!"

"How many time do I have to tell you!? What happen at clinic was accident! I was too upset by ordeal to realize it 'til after they nurse me back to health!"

Tsuyoshi grits his teeth a few seconds before the boat jostled slightly. Shinta scrambles over to the window, seeing scattering clouds begin to pan away from view. He whips around to face Tsuyoshi in hesitation.

"Stop the boat!" he demands, "We have to get these two to hospital!"

"They're not going anywhere," said a voice. Everyone turns their attention towards the hallway to see Hayato walk into the room, crossing his arms.

"Senpai! Why you doing this!?" Shinta exclaims, "I understand you want to make Agents pay for ruining our reputation! But did you have to go this far just to get it!?"

"The puffer fish that poisoned one of the Western Ouendan was a complete disaster on Noble's fault," Hayato said before eyeing Hajime, "Therefore, it's only proper that we repay that incident by offering to take him to the Island where Kuroiwa-hakase's clinic is. Common generosity, I'm sure you know too well."

"But what Haji-kun have to do with our vengeance!? He hasn't done anything that would provoke you to harm him just so he have reason to accept our hospitality!"

"Is getting in our way and protecting these Western Ouendan 'not doing anything provocative'?" Hayato meanders over to Hajime and presses one of his blue fuzzy slipper feet against his chest, seeing him shut one eye and wince at the sandwiching pressure of the futon he's being crushed against, "See, that's the thing with life debts. You forgo things that boil our hatred and focus only on ways to repay rivals for their kind generosity." Hajime's aggravated frown increases as Hayato grinds his foot onto his chest, further squeezing the sandwiching pressure, "Isn't that why Shinta-kun is just as distractive as your squad when the Western Ouendan are around? Because he feels he has to repay them for the hospitality they offered?"

"Your kouhai learned to speak and understand English by watching you talk..." Hajime grunts, trembling from the pain of Hayato's grinding foot, "So why don't you stop pretending he has the attention span of a krill and ask him if he's defending the Agents by choice?" Hayato sneers in annoyance, "Or are you so knuckleheaded, like your billiard cube of a follower, that you immediately assume they forced him to respect their every being?"

Tsuyoshi's entire head reddens in anger, "Hiretsukan! You shall pay dearly for those insults, you feral runt!"

"That's enough!" Hayato exclaims, throwing his hand towards Tsuyoshi as a form of command to stop him. He eyes Hajime again, his frown tightening, "Whether or not Shinta-kun trusts the Western Ouendan by will is no concern of mine. The only thing that matters is saving our reputation before it washes away with the tide!" Hajime muffles a frustrated growl, "The closer we are to the clinic, the deeper your suave friend will sink in the cement of his debt to Noble. And this time, Ouen runt, not even your entire squad will have the strength or will to pull him out!"

He shoves his foot off Hajime's chest, squeezing out the air he managed to draw in during the sandwiching ordeal, and heads for the room only to stop next to Tsuyoshi. Without even looking, he grabs the cat by the scruff of his neck and tears him off the bald Noble's head, causing him to scream in pain as he tosses the cat towards Shinta.

"**If you're going to keep this cat, Shinta-kun, clean him up,**" Hayato said, "**Moriyama's aftershave isn't the only thing stinking up this room.**" He then heads out of the room.

"Saionji-sama!" Tsuyoshi exclaims as he runs out after the Noble leader. Shinta looks between his higher-ups, then the cat in his arms before sighing in frustration.

* * *

Hayato heads into a small kitchen on the upper deck of the houseboat, taking a tall pot out of the cupboard and placing it in the sink to fill with water. He heads to the fridge to get some vegetables only to find it wide open with a white, furry rump sticking out of the bottom shelf. His frown increases as he reaches in and grabs a pair of long ears, pulling them back to reveal a bunny rabbit holding a long carrot in its mouth.

"ACK! USAGI-CHAN!" squeaks a startled voice. Hayato shuts the fridge to reveal Rin standing behind it, red as her uniform and fidgeting uncomfortably.

She quickly snatches the rabbit out of his hand and cuddles it in her arms, "**Don't hold her like that, Saionji-san! You'll hurt her ears!**" she then notices Hayato's increased frown and folds her hands together, still managing to keep the bunny situated in her arms, "**Please let me keep her, Saionji-san! She's already suffered enough when I found her dumped in an orange crate in the middle of the neighborhood ally! I don't want to put her back in that situation!**"

"**As long as you keep her out of the fridge, she can stay,**" Hayato said, pulling the fridge back open to continue his ingredient search. Rin giggles with excitement as she gently hugs her rabbit.

"**Did you hear that, Usagi-chan? You get to stay here with me!**" she then heads out of the kitchen, "**Come on! Let's get you cleaned up so you don't get rain water all over the boat!**"

* * *

"**Come on, will you stop wiggling?**" Shinta pleads as he holds a soaking, sud-filled cat on a blue stool in the bathroom. His blue jacket and gloves are gone and the white shirt, with the emblem of Noble on the left breast pocket, he wore underneath had their sleeves rolled up to keep from getting wet, "**I know you hate water, but if I don't clean you up, Senpai's gonna throw you out.**" The cat stares up at him in a pleading manner as he picks up a showerhead, "**Don't worry. The longer you stay still, the faster I can wash you off and the sooner you can run loose on the boat.**"

The bathroom door suddenly slides open as Kaoru stumbles in, his hand clutched around the bottom of his cape as a large, moving lump hangs underneath. Before Shinta could ask, the Noble chief grabs him by the knot of his bandana and shoves him into the laundry room separating the bathroom from the hallway of the houseboat. Another second passes before the yellow tabby is thrown out beside him, still covered in suds.

Shinta turns and attempts to barge back in only to have the door slide shut in his face, "**Hey!**"he grabs the handles, attempting to pull them only to feel his hands jerk,** "I'm not done yet, Kiyuin-san! Open up!**"

There was no response aside from the sound of the shower going off. Muffling a growl, Shinta picks up his cat and barges out of the laundry room, "**Come on. I'll rinse you off in the kitchen.**"

While entering the living room, he nearly collides with Rin, scampering into the corridors with a white bunny in her arms. He glances towards her passing figure, then down to the cat, who gives him a curious glance.

"**Oh, man,**" he groans, "**We're getting a lot of animals on this boat. I hope Senpai doesn't change his mind and make me put you in some cramped shelter in town.**"

The cat cocks his head to one side, wagging his tail a bit before glancing down to the floor, seeing a long haired Shih Tzu sitting at Shinta's feet, lolling his tongue and wagging his tail. Shinta looks down as well, noticing the curious look on the dog's face before bending down and holding the cat near him.

The two study each other a few minutes, staring and sniffing the air around them. The cat then wiggles out of Shinta's arms and scampers to the Shih Tzu's side, licking his long hair with his rough tongue. The dog growls in comfort as he lies down and allows the cat to continue grooming him. Shinta watches the two's acquaintance grow seconds before a blood-curdling shriek almost sent them careening to the ceiling of the boat.

"**Get away from him, you vermin!**" Reika exclaims as she charges into the living room, throwing her pompoms at the immediate party. The two house pets yowl in fright as they split in different directions, the cat scrambling straight into Shinta's arms. Honoka charges after them, forcing the rookie Noble to yelp in shock and scramble to the corner of the living room, using his back as a shield to keep her pompoms from landing on his new furry friend as suds and water flew onto his clothes and the floor around him.

The living room became an area of shrieks, punches and animal sounds as the Noble Girls beat on Shinta with their pompoms while the Shih Tzu growls and pulls at Reika's skirt in an attempt to pull her away from them. Hayato eventually emerges from the doorway of the kitchen, seeing the calamity make a mess of the room.

"**What is going on here!?**" he yells. Reika and Honoka sharply turn to Hayato a second before pulling away and pointing at Shinta.

**"He started it!**" they shout. Shinta turns his head to see Hayato before scrambling to a standing position, holding the cat tight to his chest.

"**It's not what you think, Senpai!** he retorts, "**He was just trying to-!**"

"**Shinta-kun, what's the idea carrying that cat around the boat with shampoo on his body?**" Hayato interrupts, "**Washing a cat is no different from giving Keane a bath.**"

"**I know how to wash him, Senpai! But Kiyuin-san barged into the bathroom and threw us out before I could rinse the shampoo off him! I was heading to the kitchen, hoping to use the sink as a secondary bathtub!**" Hayato grumbles as he rubs his temples in frustration.

"**Fine,**" he said, "**Just so long as you don't ruin the living room carpet.**" He then took his hand off his temple and looks at Shinta again, "**And when you're done, take the tray I put on the counter to our 'guests'.**" Shinta blinks in confusion as Hayato turns and heads back into the kitchen, "**Since you're so fond of them, I'll leave you to take care of them until we arrive at the clinic.**"

Shinta stutters as he looks over to Honoka and Reika, who scoops the dog into her arms, both storming out of the living room, then the cat in his arms before sighing and heading into the kitchen to hopefully get him washed.

* * *

Later that night, Shinta pushes the door to his room open, spilling in the dim hallway lights. J still laid in his sleeping futon, struggling to breathe through the paralyzing effects of the fugu, while Hajime continues to lay beside him, facing the other side of the room.

Upon hearing the door slide open, Hajime turns his head over to see Shinta reach up and flip the light switch, exposing a brighter light. The Noble rookie had removed his soaked uniform, revealing a white undershirt and blue boxers, holding a long tray with two bowls of vegetable soup sitting on it.

"I hope I not wake you," Shinta said as he walks into the room and places the tray between Hajime and J.

"My stomach was growling so much, I couldn't go back to sleep," Hajime said as he sat up and took one of the bowls off the tray, "I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast."

Shinta furrows his eyebrows in worry as he flops into an Indian position beside Hajime's futon, "How can you take this so calmly!?" Hajime blows on a spoon full of soup before sticking it in his mouth, "Senpai force his hospitality on you, and the rest of squad want to get rid of Agents any way they can. Aren't you least bit frighten by this!?"

"It's like he said before," Hajime began after swallowing his first spoon full, "The incident with the fugu is completely Noble's fault, so it's only fair for them to pay their dues by taking Jonouchi to the clinic." he scoops up another spoon full of soup, "What happens after that is up to Jonouchi; but it's a daunting bet he'll let Noble have their vengeance, hoping they'll finally understand each other."

Shinta compresses his lips, as Hajime blows on the spoon again, then turns his gaze over to J gasping for air, "When did this happen; Agents helping Japan with their problems?"

Hajime stops before he could stick the spoon in his mouth, looking over to J, "Approximately three years ago. One day, the Agents showed up in Yuhi Town on a much needed vacation, wandered into a disaster in progress and were immediately picked out by the person trying to call for us. I admit we were upset that they were chosen over us; but rather than make a big deal out of it, we made them encourage the person using the Ouendan performance Japan's been used to for many years."

He pauses a moment to take another bite out of his soup, "The following day we got sick and had to rely on the Agents to substitute 'til we recovered. It was then that we realized how useful our alliance could be in such situations and decided to let the Agents be involved in our daily routine. Upon observation, we found out that most of Japan relied as much on EBA as they do Ouendan based more on appearance than style. The only thing that keeps EBA from being fully committed to Japan's problem is the method of their call. Their radar systems only respond to how America calls for them; so the only way Japan could get a hold of the Agents is if they catch sight of them or we choose to let them be involved in that person's dilemma. The routine soon became so common, by the end of the year we'd tally how many people called for us, and use it as a moral to improve our status."

"But...isn't that like pushing opposition to be superior?" Shinta asked.

"Are you familiar with the term 'friendly rivalry'?"

"Friendly rivalry?"

"It's like trying to best others, but rather than shatter our alliance, it strengthens the bond, giving us more ways to help each other without worrying about what could stop us from saving those in need."

Shinta continues stare at Hajime, almost surprised, then looks down at his crossed legs, placing his hands between them.

* * *

"Yo! What just happened?" Spin yelps as he looked up at the monitor in the command room, "First J's signal goes out to sea, then it disappears? What's up with that?"

"I can't sense his spirit either," Ryuta mutters, "Something must've happened to him that we don't know about."

Spin stutters a bit before pulling his communicator out, "Maybe I should call him and see what's happening." Ryuta eyes him as he began pressing buttons.

* * *

Hajime muffles a grunt as he heard the faint sound of something vibrating on a soft surface. He opens his eyes to see the sky slowly brighten in the wake of the morning sun, then towards the source of the noise from under the blankets of J's futon before slipping his hand in and pulling something out of his pocket.

It looked like a black box with a star on top of it, vibrating every passing second. Hajime remembered J set the device on vibrate to avoid the beeping noise interrupting the quiet sounds of Yuhi Park. He looks behind him where Shinta's bed is, finding it empty, then presses the star, causing it to open into a cell phone like device with a black screen and a yellow oscilloscope.

"J, you there?" calls a voice that made the oscilloscope bounce to its pitch, "We noticed your signal disappear and was wondering if you was alright." Hajime compresses his lips; it was hard not to recognize the accent and tone of the voice.

"Spin..." he mutters.

"Haji? Is that you? Is J with you? What's goin' on?"

Hajime tightens his compressed lips in hesitation, then opens his mouth to say something only to have the device snatched out of his hand. He clambers to a sideways position, propped on his elbow, and shoots a glare towards the direction of the grab to see Hayato return the glance, in the same manner, sticking the device to his ear and speaking into it.

"I'm afraid your friends won't be speaking to you for a while," he began in a calm, slightly snide tone, "They've become properties of the Noble Cheer Squad." He then shuts the communicator before another word comes out of it, glancing down at Hajime again to see his scowl increase in frustration.

"Saionji-sama!" calls a voice from outside Shinta's room. Hayato turns his head to see Tsuyoshi stand in the hallway with his fists behind his back.

"**We'll be approaching the Island in one minute,**" he said.

"And thus hardens the cement around your jiving friend," Hayato said, as he walks over to Hajime and grabs his arm, forcing him to his feet, "On your feet, runt! We need a force field to keep the rest of our rivals from taking your friend before he's well enough to object!"

Hajime muffles a growl as Hayato shoves him out of Shinta's room and into Tsuyoshi's hands, who grabs his wrists and holds them behind his back to keep him from escaping. The Noble leader emerges a second later, holding J under his arm, as he eyes Tsuyoshi, watching him nod, before they head down the hallway, dragging Hajime with them.

* * *

"What!?" Spin exclaims into his communicator, "Hey! Hey come back here!" Ryuta muffles a growl as he stands up and heads for the doors of the command room. Spin blinks as he watches him wait for them to slide open, "Where're you goin'!?"

"To reinforce morality," Ryuta said before heading out of the command room.

* * *

Shinta crouched on the front deck of the boat, dressed in his now clean uniform, wiggling a cat toy in front of him and watching as his new tabby companion chases after it. He chuckles as he reaches to pet him on the head before hearing the door fly open. Snapping his head behind him, he sees Hayato walk by him with J limp under his arm, followed shortly by Tsuyoshi and Kenshin, the former jerking Hajime in front of him, his hand tightly gripped on the Ouen rookie's wrists.

Shinta blinks in overwhelmed shock, getting up to say something only to receive a glare from Hajime, his soul burning with rejection for his help; almost like he didn't want the Noble rookie to defy his faction for the sake of a rivaling friend. Hayato eyes them before leaping off the deck and onto the shores of the Island, about to head into the country when three, highly angered spirits burned from a family of trees in front of him. Eyeing the source, he sees Atsushi, Kai and Ittetsu emerge from the shadows of the tree and march towards them, the followers holding their fists behind their back while the leader kept his throttling at his sides, his face a twist of anger scary enough to send a pack of bears fleeing for their lives.

Hayato remained neutral as he stood his ground, watching as the Ouen chief stops a foot from him, his height forcing the Noble leader to tilt his head back just to gaze into his frowning, enraged mug.

"I have to commend you for figuring out WHERE we're taking your Western compatriot," Hayato began, "But it's not going to be enough of a confession to yank him from my arms."

"We know what you are trying to do," Kai growls, "And we are not going to stand here and let you shut the Agents out of Japan against our decision!"

"You're still pent up on that belief? That the Western Ouendan will only help Japan when you give them permission?"

"We have been through this before, Noble! Whatever the Agents do in our town is our business, not yours or any other Ouendan that defies our method of encouragement!"

"See, that's where the wool is pulled over your eyes. You're so confident that Japan will continue to rely on you that you blindly believe a small drop of Western Ouendan would only garner you a few turned heads. And that by keeping tabs on that drop, it won't soak into the brains of the Japanese Community and get them to rely on them more than us. But the fact is, by squeezing your little syringe on just Yuhi Town alone, you've created a splatter so big, it's beginning to affect both our squads. You have no idea what those Western Ouendan have been doing behind your back. And rather than listen to our story and put a barrier around your little 'faction', you claim they've done nothing wrong and told us to leave them alone."

Kai's eyebrow began to twitch in increasing anger as Hayato's snidely rose, "Then those Western Ouendan confronted one of my members, not only pulling him into a life debt, but also poisoning him against everything that makes up our squadron. But when we did the same to one of them, you immediately showed up and insisted that we hand him over to you simply because you 'believed' our kind hands will also shove him and the rest of his squad out of our business and our country." Kai's trembling increases the longer Hayato spoke, "I believe the Japanese word for 'hypocrite' is 'nisekunshi'?"

"Kisama...!" the large Ouendan snarls as he pulls his fist back in preparation for a shout. But before he could even draw in his breath, Hajime slides between him and Hayato, throwing his arms out and forming a human shield in front him. Kai jerks to a stop, staring down at the rookie in total shock and anger, then back to the Noble leader who cocks a satisfied grin.

"Your runt was becoming a feral little beast, biting anyone who opposed the methods of your pride," Hayato said, patting Hajime on the head only to gain an aggravated glare from him, "I took great pleasure in putting him in his place. A great tool, this generosity; saves me the hassle of buying a chair and a whip to tame him."

Kai's growl grew louder, as does the throttling in his fist and the trembling in his body, before a louder noise draws his attention. Everyone attempts to look to the source only to see a red convertible screech to a halt between Kai and Hayato, forcing them to step back to avoid getting careened. The hood and windows were pulled down, revealing Ryuta taking helm of the technically modified antique.

The Ouen leader eyes Kai's enraged stature, then Hayato's snobby stance, before turning his head to face his familiar squad, "Go home and cool off! This conflict is between me and Saionji now!"

Kai's frown tightens, "On whose authority!?"

"Morality's!" Kai's anger literally engulfs him in red, spiritual fire, causing everyone but Ryuta and Hayato to cringe and back away in fright, "You have no idea how much trouble your causing our squad by showing up and stopping Noble from lending a hand in this situation!"

"Lending a hand!?" Kai nearly roars, "Jonouchi was just fine being carried by Hajime and the Nobles show up and force them to accept their help! That is not generosity, it is an excuse to make the EBA sever our ties and never accept our help again!"

"There could be more to Noble's interest in EBA than just stabbing their flag between our factions and forcing us to put leashes around their necks! They know what could make us tick and explode in a bonfire of uncontrolled rage, and they're just drawing that line, daring us to step over it and give them more reasons to look down on us!" Kai widens his bared teeth as the fire grew around him, "And the last thing we need is to start a fight between squads that will give others a reason to reject our help and fear their future! Now go home!"

Kai continues to glare at Ryuta, the fire surrounding him blew to twice his height. The Ouen leader's frown tightens as he gets up, sticking one foot on the driver's seat, and turns to fully face him, his aura burning at the same height, but with more boldness in his blaze than what surrounded the Ouen chief.

"GO HOME _**NOW!**_" Ryuta roars in a tone that made everyone fear him more than Kai. Hayato's smug grin practically fades at the sight of his counterpart's massively bold spirit and domineering eyes battling Kai's enraged spirit and glare. It was now clear how people kept questioning which of the two is the true king of the squad.

After what seems like five minutes of glaring contests and sizing each other's spirits, Kai eventually shrinks, turns sharply and storms off. Atsushi and Ittetsu watch him go, take another glance at Ryuta's large, bold spirit and stare, then turns and hurries off after the Ouen chief. With the air now overcome by the ocean breeze, Hayato regains his smug smirk, bouncing the comatose J under his arm to readjust his position.

"So, my equal really exists," he says as he moves towards the convertible, watching Ryuta flop back into the driver's seat and grasp his hands around the steering wheel, "And here I thought you were just another hologram that Western runt programmed to trick me into believing that Ouendan actually had some reliability in them."

Ryuta immediately whips around and points an aggravated finger at the Noble leader, "Don't you dare start that smug attitude on me, dawg! I didn't break up your little show to save your pompous ass!" he then thrusts his thumb to the backseat, "So shut up and get in the back!" Hayato's smirk only widens.

"No matter how much you know the outcome of this scenario, you still can't refuse sticking your hot-blooded spirit in our business," Hayato says before turning his head and calls with a stern leer, "Moriyama! Sugita!"

On command, Tsuyoshi and Kenshin land around Hajime, each grabbing his arm and stretching him out. Ryuta's lips curl in frustration as Hayato eyes the Ouen rookie, "Visiting hours are over! Take him back inside!"

"Hai!" the two bark before turning around and leaping back onto the houseboat, taking Hajime with them. Hayato turns his attention back to Ryuta, regaining his smug grin.

"Now that you're willing to keep both oppositions at bay, the only thing he's useful for is repaying Kaoru for challenging his rank." Hayato tosses J into the backseat, climbing in shortly after, "A two-on-two battle; your runt and that Western Ouendan against me and Kaoru; to show everyone just how powerful Noble is and prove, once and for all, who the real motivators are." Ryuta continues to eye him in annoyance before restarting the engine and driving off towards the country.

Shinta and the yellow tabby leaned over the rails of the houseboat, watching as the convertible disappears into the shadows of the trees bordering the population, overwhelmed by what had just happened when Hayato set foot on the shores of the island. His only thoughts revolved around the outcome after J recovers. Will Noble really battle the two squads and force EBA to resign their aide in Japan? Hayato is going out of his way to make the squad well known in Asahi, but he worries it may come at the cost of those who helped him realize the truth about alliance, and the bonuses that come with it.

Sighing in worry, Shinta flops down against the side of the houseboat, pulling the cat onto his lap and morosely stroking his back while gaining a sympathetic and worried look from his small companion. Fitting into the squad was troublesome as it was; to find out that there was more to maintaining reliability than who wears the same outfit or struts the same moves is something that upsets him even more. He decides to wait until everyone goes to bed, then sneak out to the clinic to visit J and hopefully straighten out the misunderstanding before it drops down on them like an atom bomb.

End Notes:

1. "-hakase" is a Japanese formality suffix used to address a doctor or Ph.D.  
2. "Kouhai" is the synonym version of "senpai"; the junior or underling of the person most admired.  
3. Keane is the dog that appeared in two of Noble's segments, and is the apparent icon of the squad. There was no name for the dog, so I just made one up.


	12. Episode 12: TeamUp in Dreamland

Episode 12: Team-Up in Dreamland

One morning, at the Matsurida household, a young mother throws a blanket over a clothesline in the backyard. In her arm is a baby of one year, wearing a pink, hooded jammy, staring at her older brother snidely.

"**If you're going to become a big brother,**" she began, turning to face her six-year-old son, Takuya, "**You need to stop wetting your bed!**"

Standing between her and Takuya is a large splatter on his blanket in the shape of a hideous monster. Takuya grumbles as he brings his fist to his neck.

"**Yeah, yeah! I won't wet the bed anymore!**" he declares.

That night, after a wondrous dinner, Takuya and his father spent an hour in the bathtub washing away the cold sensation of the water they threw onto themselves to clean away the soap and shampoo from their body.

"**Nice hot water, eh?**" he laughs.

"**Yep!**" Takuya laughs.

After the bath, Takuya throws his briefs on and runs over to his mother, "**Mama! I want some milk, please!**" Both father and son took a quart of milk and poured it into their mouths, "**Milk after a bath is the BEST!**"

Takuya downs the entire bottle before pulling it away and wiping the mustache from his mouth with a satisfied gasp. His mother eyes him eerily.

"**Oh my,**" she says, "**You're not going to wet the bed after drinking that much, are you?**"

At this, Takuya panics, remembering the lecture from earlier that morning. He tries to hold his anxiety as he stutters, "**I...I'll be okay!**"

* * *

Shinta wanders through the empty streets of the country island late that night, wincing with almost every step he took on his bare feet; regretting having snuck out of the houseboat through the tight window of his bedroom to avoid getting caught. His kitty companion tails beside him, being too scared of the Noble Girls to want to stay behind and sleep.

Having to stay up this late didn't bother him as much as it did the first day he joined. But to stay up halfway past two for reasons other than responding to a call for encouragement, especially since he spent the entire day helping Tsuyoshi and Kenshin clean a messy bathroom with nothing but toothbrushes, as most of the cleaning tools have been mysteriously chewed up by a large animal, left him more than a little tuckered. Still, since Hayato never said anything after returning from the clinic, he didn't want to go to sleep until he visit's J and checks to see if he was okay.

After a few minutes of walking down the all but dark road, while stepping on sharp pebbles and broken pieces of glass, the Noble rookie and his kitty companion finally arrive at the clinic. He walks up to the door and pulls the handle to see it slide open, indicating that Shintarou must be working overtime, looking for a way to relieve the poison in J's system.

The waiting room appeared to be pitch dark aside from a rectangular ray of light coming from one of the rooms on the far right. Sneaking over to the light and peaking in, he sees J laying in a white bed with at tube shoved down his throat; most likely as a source of emergency oxygen as the effects of the fugu has fully paralyzed his body. Shinta furrows his eyebrows in worry as he turns to pull the door open only to catch sight of someone else accompanying the BA-2 agent in his time of peril.

It was Ryuta, sitting on a stool adjacent to J's bed with his arms and legs crossed. Shinta panics and ducks under the window, pressing his back against the door while bringing his knees up. His cat follows his movement, almost as if he was his furry shadow.

Has the Ouen leader been sitting by J's side all day? Shinta assumed he would've left at roughly the same time as Hayato after being assured that something was going to be done to cure J of the fugu poisoning, but the fact that Ryuta is still inside quickly corrects him. Is it because he's still upset over what Hayato did the other day, and doesn't want anymore Nobles confronting J until he recovers?

Shinta compresses his lips, feeling as though he was never going to be able to apologize for his senpai's hazing, and prepares to get up when the door he leaned against suddenly slides open, sending him and his cat toppling onto their backs. He shuts his eyes from the split second recoil before opening them to see Ryuta tower over him with the same frown and curled lip that had become a staple of his appearance.

The Noble rookie and his cat panic again as they scramble scoot a foot away from him.

"W-wai...I...it's not...!" he stutters.

"Save it," Ryuta said, turning around, "I know you didn't sneak out here to give us trouble." He then heads back to stool and sits down. The two new arrivals continue to sit outside the room before getting up and heading inside, Shinta sitting back on the floor beside the Ouen leader while the cat climbed onto his lap, snuggling into the area between his chest and bent knees.

The next few minutes passed in silence before Shinta glances up to the bed J laid in, "Is he gonna be okay?"

"Kuroiwa-san managed to pump the fugu out of his systems," Ryuta began, "But there's no telling if it'll help him recover faster. He's already reached the point where they had to stick a respirator into his lungs to help him breathe."

Shinta sighs a bit as he looks down at the cat snoozing on his lap, "I dunno why Senpai did this. In three month since I joined, he never do anything this hostile, nor were the rest of Noble so willing to back him up instead of stop him."

"It's all part of the asserting process. When two of Asahi's citizens chose EBA over Noble, they saw them as a danger to their business and resorted to a show down to shove their fame out of town."

Shinta snaps his head over to Ryuta, "But...those were accident! Agents didn't know Noble work in Asahi, and some of citizens want Agents to do cheer for them!"

"Accident or not, the Agents interfered with Noble's settlement, forcing them to turn every negative rumor into fact and scaring them into thinking they would do close to anything to put us out of business. Now Noble's only chance of being seen as more than just another squad is if they challenge the Agents, make Asahi understand just how important they are, and convince them to stop relying on Ouen and EBA to get them out of trouble."

"But if Agents only cheer in Yuhi Town, Noble won't have to worry about losing job in Asahi."

"It's not enough to turn Asahi's interest away from them. All it's done is make them more agitated, and Noble knows if they don't find a way to draw attention away from Ouen and EBA, they would continue to flag either of us down in the split second we wander into their growing problem. By challenging them in front of onlookers, they would get them to realize their importance and stop chasing down either of us."

"With all media hype concerning meteor and alien invasion, who wouldn't want you to save their lives?" Shinta mutters, wrapping his arms around his knees and placing his chin on them, "Noble couldn't raise eyebrow in Okinawa, and moving here didn't do much 'cept bombard us with rumor of Agents taking job behind Ouendan back. And even after finding out why Agents do this, Noble won't accept and insist they want to be only Ouendan giving Asahi hope."

"Not everything starts with cameras and news footage. Organizations that work for the benefit of the world have to grain trust any way they can. Noble was on the right track, coming to Asahi and raising their flag by responding to the calls we can't detect in time. The only problem is they take too much for granted; overworking themselves for the sake of making the citizens of Asahi trust them and no one else. It not only leaves them with little time to settle in and observe everything around them, but it also tarnishes their reputation in roughly the same way as if they pointed a gun at the town and forced them to depend on their squad."

Shinta remains silent a minute before lifting his head off his knees and turning to look up towards Ryuta, "Haji-kun said this wasn't the first time Agents trifle with Ouendan. How long have you two been ally?"

Ryuta eyes Shinta before turning them to J, "We've known EBA for seven years. At the time, they were completely dependent on computers to help them find people in need of a cheer. When we offered some of our methods to them, only a few turned heads while the rest ridiculed it, not only shunning our squad, but humiliating our profession by using their computers to force their views onto us. It took three years and two more challenges before they finally accepted us as a legit organization and agreed to meld their methods with ours. Though most of the agency didn't tolerate how we ran our business, they at least understood we were anything but a ragtag bunch of cheerleaders trying to follow in their footsteps."

"So the competition Senpai declare isn't going make them think differently of Noble?"

"Jonouchi isn't the kind of person to change his views when it comes to being challenged. It may give him a reason to acknowledge Noble's place in this hierarchy, but not to the point where he'll deem the rest of the squad ignorant and self-serving. If anything, he'll find a way to show his sympathy and gain your respect."

Shinta continues to stare at Ryuta before turning his head and resting it on his knee, staring at J some more while giving his words some thought.

* * *

Later that night, Takuya tightly clutches his blanket, the dripping water lulling him to sleep while his weak bladder prepares to ruin the blanket his mother went to great trouble to clean off. Unease, he began muttering in his sleep, "O...O..."

_**OUENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN...!**_

* * *

Ryuta stares up at the clock hanging over the door, showing the small hand on the 3rd hour, while the big hand crawled past the first five minutes. The room had become dead silent, aside from the ticking clock and the tapping sound of the IV fluid trailing into J's arm. He turns his focus to Shinta, who continues to sit beside him with his knees up, his arms around them, and his head resting on top, hiding the snoozing tabby underneath.

The rookie Noble had fallen asleep, breathing slowly as his snoring was barely heard. Deciding not to wake him, Ryuta reaches over an empty bed beside J, pulls one of the blankets off, and drapes it around his shoulders, watching him snuggle into it. He then takes one more glance towards the comatose Agent before leaning against the wall and lowering his head, drifting off to sleep himself.

Roughly a couple minutes after dozing off, he's suddenly awaken by the cold sensation surrounding his body. Opening his eyes, he sees oddly colored swirls and clouds paint the scene around him. He pulled his hand into view, finding drops of water shower down onto his chest, suggesting he's laying on a wet surface.

"**Back here again...?**" he mutters flatly. He sits up only to feel his body begin to sink, forcing him to swing his arms in a circular motion to keep from going completely under. The water wasn't this deep last time he was here; something was different about this dream.

"There you are! What took you so long!?" calls a voice from behind. Ryuta turns around to see Derek clinging to Morris' back while Atsushi and Ittetsu tread beside them.

"How did you get caught up in this?" Ryuta asked, barely unfazed by Morris and Derek's sudden appearance.

"To be blunt," Morris began, "We went to bed, next thing we knew we're surrounded by water. That kid you mentioned a few weeks ago must've heard about us through the sumo we helped and pulled us down here to help him get through the night piss free."

"When you mentioned 'sumo', you're not referring to..." Ryuta's interrupted by a spray of cold water drenching his head, pushing his bangs to the right side of his face. He looks up to see a clutter of pipes springing leaks everywhere, and Takuya scrambling around, trying to tighten the bolts while keeping himself from soiling his pajamas. On the other side of the pipe mess is Chieftain, who's trying to tear down the pipes Takuya tried to fasten in a fit of frustration.

"Obviously, you weren't specific on that foreshadowing the last time Chieftain ruined your performance," Morris mutters, "Now he thinks you dragged him here to prove a point, so he's destroyin' everything just to get out."

"Of course..." Ryuta spat as he brought his hands up and ruffles the water out of his hair, scissor kicking to keep from sinking, "Spare the real problem by blaming us for speaking about it." He brings his hands back down to continue his circular swinging, "Sit tight...or float... I'll deal with this." He swam to the lowest hanging pipe and grabs onto it, pulling up and squeezing himself into the compacted spaces of the yellow tangle.

"**Stop it!**" Takuya complains, swinging his wrench up and down in exasperation, "**You're supposed to help me, not make my trouble worse!**"

"Oh, that's rich!" Chieftain snaps, continuing to bust every pipe around him, "I ain't fallin' for this, Ryu, so stop playing around and get me out of this nightmare!"

"Oh yeah, you wound up in poor Takuya-kun's dream because of something I said earlier," Chieftain whips his head to the source of the voice to see Ryuta crouched in a 3ft window of pipes, resting his elbows on his knees, "So why not destroy everything around you just to see me pop out and admit you've been Punk'd?"

Chieftain thrusts an enraged finger at the Ouen leader, "Why you! You get me out of this mess right now, Ryu!" he throws the monkey wrench he used to bust pipes at Ryuta only to see him tip back and fall into the sea of pipes.

"Wow! Look at that wrench fly!" Ryuta snorts, leaning on another space of pipes, 22" wide, a few inches behind Chieftain, holding his left hand over his eyes to get a better view of the vanishing wrench, "You must be beyond upset about being dragged into this problem." Chieftain snarls as he turns and slams his foot towards the Ouen leader only to see him shove back into the space, letting the foot smash another pipe inside it.

"**Will you two stop it!?**" Takuya panics, "**If I wet my blanket again, Mama's gonna be furious!**"

"**So what?**" Ryuta asked, hanging upside down another pipe beside Takuya, crossing his arms, "**I'm not worried Chieftain's lambaste will make you wet your pants again. It just proves you're not ready to be a big brother yet.**" Takuya shoots a horrified glance at Ryuta, who eyes him with a bit of a cocky grin, "**But if you don't let up on the milk next time, you can always call him back to fix up the mess he caused tonight.**"

"What!?" Chieftain exclaims.

"**Really!? I can try again!?**" Takuya chimes excitedly.

"**Sure thing,**"Ryuta reaches up and ruffles Takuya's hair,"**Next time you call for us, just think of Chieftain and he'll come swimming down here to help you out.**"

Chieftain rushes over to Ryuta and gets into his upside down face, "Don't you dare think you can pull that stunt on me again, Ryu! I know you're just sayin' that to make me crumble to your point of view!"

"Really?" Ryuta asked, crossing his arms and returning Chieftain's glare with a stern glance, "Okay then, go ahead and dismantle all these pipes and hope tomorrow night doesn't end with the same dream as this one." Chieftain opens his mouth to say something, but spends the next minute making mouth movements before muffling a growl and dropping his shoulders in defeat.

"**Fine! I'll help you save this kid from wetting himself!**" he grumbles. Takuya beams with joy.

"**Really!?**"he squeals,"**Thanks, Mr. Western Ouendan! I knew you were the right person to call!**" Chieftain just grumbles and marches off to find Morris and Derek. Ryuta watches before pulling himself onto the pipe and heading off to fetch Atsushi and Ittetsu.

Takuya stares at the maze of pipes, finding himself back where he started, with leaks flying everywhere. Just the sight of them made his bladder feel as bloated as a water balloon.

"**I have to stop the leaks!**" he mutters nervously. Like magic, Atsushi, Ryuta, and Ittetsu appear behind him, shouting "osu" at the top of their lungs. In an instant, Takuya's soul burns with bravery and ambition, grabbing his wrench and charging into the mess of pipes to begin fixing them up.

_Nou kara hippu e makka ni tobi chiru  
Fanku na uirusu mitai na omae  
Bousou bodii de kyuuto na yuuwaku  
Sekai ni habikoru yuuutsu wo kowase_

Takuya rushes around, fixing every pipe that was on the verge of springing a leak. Seeing the mess Chieftain made earlier, his confidence wavered on how fast he could get them done before the sight makes his wet fantasy go reality. But when the troublemaker, Chieftain, and his two back-ups, Morris and Derek, appear beside the Ouen Cheer Squad and joined them in a more aggressive Ouendan performance, Takuya's confidence skyrockets, causing him to tackle and tighten the pipes with gusto.

_seikimatsu datte sugireba kinou sa  
koi mo dekinai de shineru wake nai darou_

Halfway through the maze of pipes, it becomes obvious that a solo repair isn't going to keep Takuya's bladder from filling up anymore than it should. Looking at the next line of pipes, he begins to panic.

"**I'll never make it at this rate!**" he yelps.

As if responding to his dilemma, two mysterious plumbers with blue overalls and the Japanese logo for "Water Bureau" pinned to their blue hats appear before him. The left slightly chubby, wearing an orange shirt, while the second plumber is slightly skinny, wearing a green, long sleeve shirt.

"**Leave it to us!**" They shout. Grabbing their wrenches, they rush over to the pipes and began tightening them at a much faster rate that Takuya's attempts. After a minute, they rush back to him, giving him thumbs up, "**Mission accomplished!**"

"**Thanks, guys!**" Takuya beams with relief.

Suddenly, the maze of pipes vanishes, revealing a stone wall on the verge of crumbling. Gushes of water broke through the cracks, making Takuya extremely uncomfortable.

"**I have to hold back the dam!**" he shudders as he scrambles away from the wall. The Ouen Cheer Squad appear on the crumbling wall, shouting "osu" again while the Agents appear beside them, preparing for another round of encouragement. Takuya immediately stops, feeling more determination overcome his fears as he rushes back to the wall and prepares to push back the water.

_youshi wa youchi de youki na you demo  
you to iyou ni youen na yatsu_

Takuya finds a giant Ebi-yama panicking as he looks at the water gushing out of the walls, almost as though he was trying to figure out what he was supposed to do to keep it from flooding. Seeing him lights up a new ambition within him as he runs over and cheers the overwhelmed sumo to stop the overflowing problem. Seeing his encouraging yells, Ebi-yama finds his inner courage and tackles the bridge, his strong hands keeping the crumbling stones from falling out and freeing anymore water from the dam.

_  
roriita uinku de kyandii nedatte  
shoufu no kuchibiru de shabutte miro yo_

"**Gooo Mr. Sumo!**" Takuya roots. Ebi-yama shouts Dosukoi, leaping back and charging towards the wall, yelling at the top of his lungs.

_seikimatsu datte sugireba kinou sa  
ai ni tsuita kanashimi mo kieru_

He manages to slam his hands into the crumbling wall, causing it to realign itself and keep the water from escaping.

"**Hurry and run!**" he shouts.

"**Thanks, Mr. Sumo!**" Takuya beams as he makes a dash for safety.

_teikiatsu datte aozora no kakera  
kissu bara maite mirai e yukou_

After escaping the large dam, Takuya was about to breathe a sigh of relief when one of the puddles behind him explodes into a giant, water monster, bearing a banner that read "Soaking Wet King" in Japanese.

"**Wet!**" he blubs. Takuya shudders in fright.

"**I have to fight him!**" he mutters. The Cheer Squad and the Agents appear behind him, the Japan cheerleaders shouting "osu" again and rekindling his burning courage. Materializing a hairdryer out of thin air, Takuya tackles the water monster dead on, attempting to evaporate him before his hypnotizing appearance causes him to do more than get a little wet.

_Don't let me down  
My sweet baby BAMBINA_

_dakishimeta ano yoru wa himitsu sa_

Takuya shudders as the Soaking Wet King towers over him, ready to pour some unsavory liquid onto his poor body. Having to see leaks from pipes and dams is bad enough, but seeing an actual water monster would make him form a puddle on his pants right now. However, with the Cheer Squad and Agents continuing to encourage him, he quickly overcomes his troubles and takes the hairdryer to the Soaking Wet King, letting out a huge blast of hot air that sent him stumbling around, trying to avoid getting dried up.

_nuudo ni nattara tenshi no hane ga  
bareru ze BAMBINA_

_LET'S GO!_

The Soaking Wet King manages to regain its wobbly appearance and towers over Takuya, preparing its special attack while straining in a gargling, almost hypnotic tone, "**Wet the bed!**"

Unnerved by its threat, Takuya undergoes a transformation, gaining red, white and blue armor and shouting heroically, "TAKUYA MAN!!"

The Soaking Wet King lets loose a glop of water towards Takuya who stands his ground, arming his trusty hairdryer, "**Come on!**"

Another attack from the towering water as the fighting 6-year-old jumps back and lets loose a wave of hot air, "**FIRE!**"

Caught by surprise of the rush of heat, the Soaking Wet King garbles a scream as it vanishes into a humid mist. Takuya throws a peace sign in victory, "**I win!**"

But the victory didn't last long as Takuya is suddenly surrounded by pipes again, all springing large leaks.

"**I have to stop the leak again!**" he panics. The Ouen Cheer Squad appears behind Takuya and shout "osu" again, giving him another dose of burning ambition as he rushes off to fix the pipes again.

_seikimatsu datte sugireba kinou sa  
ai ni tsuita kanashimi mo kieru_

_teikiatsu datte aozora no kakera  
kissu bara maite mirai e yukou_

The two plumbers appeared again and began repairing all the leaks and broken pipes they found before appearing before Takuya and giving him the okay.

"**Mission accomplished!**" they shout.

"**Thanks guys!**" Takuya says with relief.

_Don't let me down  
My sweet baby BAMBINA  
tori kago ni toji komete aitai  
taikutsu suru to chanto uwaki suru  
koakuma BAMBINA_

Don't let me down  
My sweet baby BAMBINA  
dakishimeta ano yoru wa himitsu sa  
nuudo ni nattara tenshi datta ne

Takuya is woken up by the warm ray of the morning sun, he yawns as he gets up and checks himself out, amazed at how dry his pants and blankets were.

"**I did it!**" Takuya shouts as he threw his arms up, "**Safe!**"

_miywaku no BAMBINA_

He wastes no time rushing into the kitchen where his mama was, "**Mama! I didn't wet the bed!**"

His mother looked on in surprise while his little sister grumbles and crosses her arms.

"**Oh my, just what I expect from a big brother,**" she chuckles, "**Well then...**"

She immediately pulls up a triple layered, strawberry cake. On the chocolate bar sitting on the head of the cake is the words "Congratulations" in Japanese, "**A reward!**"

Takuya bounces for joy, "**Alright!! Thank you Mama!**"

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the clinic in the Asahi countryside, a shadow sneaks over to the sliding door hiding the sleeping trio of cheerleaders. He opens it a crack and chucks a barely meaty fish bone into the center of the room before sliding it shut.

The aroma of the mostly eaten fish grabs the cat's attention as he pops his head out from under Shinta's chin, knocking some of the sleep from his mind, as he wiggles out and clambers over to the bone to pick it clean. The rookie Noble moans as he pulls the sheets back around him, about to fall back to sleep when a horrendous scream shakes the clinic, jerking him and Ryuta back to reality.

"**MY FISH!!**" Shintarou's voice wails, "**WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FISH I BOUGHT!?**"the two rival Ouendan blink in confusion as they whipped their heads to glance at every area of the room,** I NEED IT FOR GEISHI'S MEDICINE!!**"

There was a rapid stamped of footsteps heading for the room a split second before Shintaoru throws the door open, catching sight of the yellow tabby pulling at another chunk of meat on the fishbone. The two Ouendan saw his aggravated flame almost hit the top of the doorframe as the glistening of his glasses hid enraged eyes.

"**Why you four-legged little thief!**" he nearly bellows. He marches into the room, grabs the cat by the scruff of his neck and hauls him off the ground, "**Thought you could make off with my ingredients, did you!? Well, here's a little taste of what'll happen if you trespass into my clinic again!**" he pulls the window open and tosses the cat into the bushes in front of the dark woods, then claps the fur from his hands as he storms out of the room and slams the door behind him.

Shinta panics, throwing the sheets off him while running to the window and climbing out it. He stops in front of the bush and pulls the cat out, seeing him moan in fright. Furrowing his eyebrows, he holds the cat towards his chest and pets his head.

"**It's okay, Neko,**" he said, "**I know it wasn't your fault. Someone must've planted that fishbone to make Hakase think you were the one who stole it.**"

"Whoever it was didn't do a good job cleaning up after himself," Ryuta said. Shinta turns his head to see him leaning his crossed arms on the windowsill.

"Why you say that?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know about you," Ryuta began before pulling out a curled string of white hair, "But I don't know anyone in EBA or Ouen with hair this long and curly."

Shinta gets up and swipes the string from Ryuta, staring at it a few seconds before shaking in anger, "Why that...!" he quickly turns to the corner of the clinic, both he and Neko burning in anger, "KIYUIN-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!" he then ran off towards the corner of the clinic, heading back into the country and in the direction of the houseboat.


End file.
